Commentary on Sections Overview Overview Section 779: Gains on commodity and financial futures
2909.This section is based on section 128 of ICTA. That section was introduced as section 72 of FA 1985. It was part of changes which removed gains on commodity and financial futures from the scope of income tax or corporation tax under Schedule D (unless chargeable as trade profits) and charged them instead as capital gains under section 143 of TCGA. This is an unusual instance of an item which is naturally income being charged instead as a capital profit (most “deeming” legislation is designed to tax capital profits as income).
2910.Section 80 of FA 1997 reversed the FA 1985 change to the extent of gains charged to tax thereafter under Schedule 5AA to ICTA (guaranteed returns on transactions in futures and options, rewritten in Chapter 12 of Part 4 of this Act).
2911.The only Cases of Schedule D which could apply to the gains covered by section 128 of ICTA, where the gain is income on first principles (and disregarding the exemption the section provides), are Schedule D Cases V and VI. As the relevant charging function of those Cases is rewritten in Chapter 8 of Part 5 of this Act, the section is expressed as an exemption from the charge under that Chapter.
2912.Together with the “priority sections” (sections 575 and 576), which award priority to a charge under Part 2 or under Chapter 12 of Part 4 of this Act, expressing the exemption in that way ensures that any gains not falling within that Part or Chapter are not charged to income tax. That leaves the way clear for gains covered by this exemption to be taxed under section 143 of TCGA.
2913.The section imports the definitions provided by section 143 of TCGA.