Section 291 | The carrying on of a qualifying activity requirement

(1)The requirement of this section, at any time on or after the issue of the relevant holding, is that a qualifying company (whether or not the same such company at every such time) must have been carrying on a qualifying activity at all times from the issue of the holding to the time in question.

(2)Carrying on a qualifying trade is a qualifying activity.^F1

(3)Preparing to carry on a qualifying trade is a qualifying activity if, at the time when the relevant holding was issued, the trade was intended to be carried on ... by a qualifying company.This is subject to subsections (4) and (5).^F2

(4)The requirement of this section is not capable of being met by virtue of subsection (3) at any time after the end of the period of two years beginning with the issue of the relevant holding unless—

(a)the intended trade was begun to be carried on by a qualifying company before the end of that period, and

(b)at all times since the end of that period, a qualifying company (whether or not the same such company at every such time) has been carrying on a qualifying trade ....^F3

(5)The requirement of this section is also not capable of being met by virtue of subsection (3) at any time after the abandonment, within the period mentioned in subsection (4), of the intention in question.

(6)In determining for the purposes of subsection (4)(a) when the intended trade was begun to be carried on by a qualifying company which is a qualifying 90% subsidiary of the relevant company, any carrying on by it of the trade before it became such a subsidiary of the relevant company is ignored.

(7)In this section “qualifying company” means the relevant company or any qualifying 90% subsidiary of that company.

(8)The reference in subsection (7) to a qualifying company which is a qualifying 90% subsidiary of the relevant company includes, in its application to subsection (3), a reference to any existing or future qualifying company which will be a qualifying 90% subsidiary of the relevant company at any future time.