CFM45310 | Deemed loan relationships: shares with guaranteed returns: meaning of commercial rate of interest

Commercial rate of interest

This guidance applies to companies that hold shares up to 21 April 2009

All the rules in CTA09/SPT6/CH7 define an interest-like return in terms of ‘return on an investment of money at a commercial rate of interest’. A definition of ‘commercial rate of interest’ was inserted by F(2)A05/SCH7/PARA13 as new FA96/S103(3A). Note, however, that FA96/S103(3A) was repealed by FA08/SCH22/PARA19(1) in relation to times on or after 12 March 2008.

The section provides that for the purposes of loan relationships, a commercial rate of interest, in the case of a company and any asset, is:

• a rate (‘the simple commercial rate’) that is reasonably comparable to the rate that the company could obtain by placing on deposit the money it invested in the asset, or

• in any case where -

• the likely rate of increase in the value of an asset is in question, and

• that likely rate is lower than the simple commercial rate, and

• the difference is a result of an expectation that the company would also obtain a tax advantage as a result of investing in the asset,

• that lower rate.

For these purposes, a ‘tax advantage’ has the meaning given by ICTA88/S709 (1).