Gas Levy Act 1981
| Year | 1981 |
Gas Levy Act 1981
1981 CHAPTER 3
An Act to impose on the British Gas Corporation a levy in respect of certain gas.
[19th March 1981]
Most Gracious Sovereign,
We , Your Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of the United Kingdom in Parliament assembled, towards raising the necessary supplies to defray Your Majesty's public expenses, and making an addition to the public revenue, have freely and voluntarily resolved to make the provision hereinafter mentioned; and do therefore most humbly beseech Your Majesty that it may be enacted, and be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Gas levy.
(1) For the year 1980-81 and each subsequent year a levy, to be known as gas levy, shall be payable out of their revenues by the British Gas Corporation (in this Act referred to as ‘the Corporation’) in respect of gas to which this section applies and which is supplied to or won by the Corporation in that year.
(2) This section applies—
(a ) to gas purchased by the Corporation under a tax-exempt contract; and
(b ) to gas which is—
(i) won or purchased by the Corporation; and
(ii) derived from a tax-exempt reservoir under the authority of a petroleum production licence which is or was held by a person who has agreed to supply gas from that reservoir to the Corporation under a tax-exempt contract or under the authority of a petroleum production licence substituted for such a licence.
(3) In this section—
‘petroleum production licence’ means a licence granted under section 2 of the Petroleum (Production) Act 1934 , including a licence granted under that section as applied by section 1(3) of the Continental Shelf Act 1964 ;
‘tax-exempt contract’ means a contract made before the end of June 1975 for the sale to the Corporation of gas won under the authority of a petroleum production licence; and
‘tax-exempt reservoir’ means a natural reservoir, gas derived from which the Corporation was on 1st April 1980 obliged to purchase (whether immediately or at some future date) under terms comprised in a document which on 1st April 1980 was treated for the purposes of paragraph (a ) of section 10(1) of the Oil Taxation Act 1975 as containing the whole or part of a contract for the sale of excluded oil as defined in that subsection.
2 Rate of levy.
(1) The rate of gas levy shall be—
(a ) for the year 1980-81, one penny per therm;
(b ) for the year 1981-82, three pence per therm; and
(c ) for the year 1982-83, five pence per therm.
(2) The Secretary of State may by order, made with the consent of the Treasury, specify rates of levy for the years mentioned in subsection (1) above different from those specified in that subsection.
(3) Subject to subsection (4) below, the rate of levy for any year subsequent to the year 1982-83 shall be specified by order made by the Secretary of State with the consent of the Treasury.
(4) If no rate is specified for any such year, the rate of levy for that year shall be the same as the rate for the preceding year.
(5) The powers to make orders conferred by this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument.
(6) No such order shall be made unless a draft of the order has been laid before and approved by a resolution of the House of Commons.
3 Payment of levy.
(1) Gas levy shall be paid to the Secretary of State in such manner and at such times as he may with the consent of the Treasury direct.
(2) The Secretary of State shall consult the Corporation before giving a direction under subsection (1) above.
(3) Gas levy for...
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