Section 281 | Withdrawal of VCT approval of a company

(1)The Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (“the Commissioners”) may withdraw the VCT approval of a company if at any time it appears to them that there are reasonable grounds for believing—

(a)that the conditions for the approval of the company were not met at the time of the approval,

(b)in a case where the Commissioners were satisfied for the purposes of section 274(1)(b) or 275(2) that any of the conditions mentioned in section 274(2) would be met in relation to any period, that the condition is one which will not be, or has not been, met in relation to that period,

(c)in the case of a company approved under subsection (2) of section 275 (read with paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of that section), that the company has not met such other conditions as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Commissioners in relation to—

(i)the period of 3 years mentioned in that paragraph, or

(ii)any part of that period,

(d)in a case where the use of any money falls to be ignored for any accounting period in accordance with section 280(2), that—

(i)the first accounting period of the company for which the use of that money will not be ignored will be a period in relation to which any of the conditions mentioned in section 274(2) will fail to be met, or

(ii)the company has not met such other conditions as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Commissioners in relation to, or to any part of, an accounting period for which the use of that money falls to be ignored, ...^F1

(e)that—

(i)the company's most recent complete accounting period or its current one is a period in relation to which there has been or will be a failure of any of the conditions mentioned in section 274(2) to be met, and

(ii)the failure was not or will not be one which, at the time of the approval, was allowed for in relation to that period by virtue of section 275(2).

(f)that, while it has been a VCT, the company has issued shares and, before the end of the restricted period, the company, other than for the purpose of redeeming or repurchasing any of those shares, has—^F2F3

(i)made a payment to all or any of its shareholders of an amount representing (directly or indirectly) a repayment of its share capital, whether that payment was made out of a reserve arising from a reduction of share capital or otherwise,^F3

(ii)where the shares were issued at a premium, made a payment to all or any of its shareholders of an amount representing (directly or indirectly) that premium or any part of it, whether that payment was made out of a share premium reserve or otherwise, or^F3

(iii)used an amount which represents (directly or indirectly) the company's share capital or an amount by which that share capital has been diminished, or, where the shares were issued at a premium, that premium (or any part of it), to pay up new shares to be allotted to all or any of its shareholders.^F3

(1A)In subsection (1)(f)—^F4

“payment”—and for this purpose “distribution” includes (but is not limited to) a distribution within the meaning of section 989,

(a)does not include any distribution of assets made in connection with the winding up of the company, but

(b)does include every other description of distribution of the company's assets to its members,

“reduction of share capital” has the same meaning as in section 1027A(2) of CTA 2010, and

“the restricted period” means the period of 3 years beginning at the end of the accounting period of the company in which the shares were issued.

(2)Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the withdrawal of the approval of a company for the purposes of this Part has effect as from the time when notice of the withdrawal is given to the company.

(3)If, in the case of a company approved as a VCT in the exercise of the power conferred by section 275(2), the approval is withdrawn at a time before all of the conditions mentioned in section 274(2) have been met with respect to the company concerned—

(a)in relation to a complete accounting period of 12 months, or

(b)in relation to successive complete accounting periods constituting a continuous period of at least 12 months,

the withdrawal of the approval has the effect that the approval is for all purposes treated as never having been given.

(4)A notice withdrawing the approval of a company for the purposes of this Part may specify a time falling before the time mentioned in subsection (2) as the time from which the withdrawal is to be treated as having effect for the purposes of section 100 of TCGA 1992 (exemption for venture capital trusts etc).But the time so specified must be no earlier than the beginning of the accounting period in relation to which it appears to the Commissioners that the condition by reference to which the approval is withdrawn has not been, or will not be, met.

(5)Despite any limitation on the time for making assessments, an assessment to any tax chargeable in consequence of the withdrawal of any VCT approval may be made at any time before the end of the period of 3 years beginning with the time when the notice of withdrawal is given.