Finance Act 1996
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1996 c. 8 |
Finance Act 1996
1996 CHAPTER 8
An Act to grant certain duties, to alter other duties, and to amend the law relating to the National Debt and the Public Revenue, and to make further provision in connection with Finance.
[29th April 1996]
Most Gracious Sovereign,
W e , 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 give and grant unto Your Majesty the several duties 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:—
Part I
Excise Duties
Alcoholic liquor duties
1 Spirits: rate of duty.
(1) In section 5 of the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (spirits), for ‘ 20.60’ there shall be substituted ‘ 19.78’.
(2) This section shall be deemed to have come into force at 6 o'clock in the evening of 28th November 1995.
2 Wine and made-wine: rates.
(1) In the Table of rates of duty in Schedule 1 to the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (wine and made-wine)—
(a) in Part I of the Table for ‘200.64’, where it appears as the rate for wine or made-wine of a strength exceeding 15 per cent. but not exceeding 22 per cent., there shall be substituted ‘187.24’; and
(b) in Part II of that Table (wine or made-wine of a strength exceeding 22 per cent.), for ‘20.60’ there shall be substituted ‘19.78’.
(2) Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) above shall be deemed to have come into force on 1st January 1996 and paragraph (b) shall be deemed to have come into force at 6 o'clock in the evening of 28th November 1995.
3 Cider: rate of duty.
(1) In subsection (1) of section 62 of the Alcoholic Liquor Duties Act 1979 (cider), for ‘rate of 23.78 per hectolitre’ there shall be substituted ‘rates shown in subsection (1A) below.’
(2) After that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsection—
(1A) The rates at which the duty shall be charged are—
(a) 35.67 per hectolitre in the case of cider of a strength exceeding 7.5 per cent; and
(b) 23.78 per hectolitre in any other case.’
(3) This section shall come into force on 1st October 1996.
Hydrocarbon oil duties
4 Rates of duty and rebate.
(1) In section 6(1) of the Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 , for ‘ 0.3614’ (duty on light oil) and ‘ 0.3132’ (duty on heavy oil) there shall be substituted ‘ 0.3912’ and ‘ 0.3430’, respectively.
(2) In section 8(3) of that Act (duty on road fuel gas), for ‘ 0.3314’ there shall be substituted ‘ 0.2817’.
(3) In section 11(1) of that Act (rebate on heavy oil), for ‘ 0.0166’ (fuel oil) and ‘ 0.0214’ (gas oil) there shall be substituted ‘ 0.0181’ and ‘ 0.0233’, respectively.
(4) In subsection (1) of section 13A of that Act (rebate on unleaded petrol), for ‘the rate of 0.0482 a litre’ there shall be substituted ‘the rate specified in subsection (1A) below’ and after that subsection there shall be inserted the following subsections—
(1A) The rate of rebate shall be—
(a) 0.0150 a litre in the case of higher octane unleaded petrol and
(b) 0.0482 a litre in any other case.
(1B) For the purposes of this section unleaded petrol is 'higher octane' if—
(a) its research octane number is not less than 96 and its motor octane number is not less than 86;
(b) it is delivered for home use as petrol which satisfies the condition set out in paragraph (a) above;
(c) it is delivered for home use as petrol which is suitable to be used as fuel for engines for which leaded petrol is suitable by v irtue of being leaded; or
(d) it is delivered for home use under such a description, or in such a manner, as tends, in the circumstances, to suggest that it is—
(i) petrol satisfying the condition set out in paragraph (a) above; or
(ii) petrol suitable to be used as fuel for engines for which leaded p etrol is suitable by virtue of being leaded.
(1C) The method of testing unleaded petrol for ascertaining, for the purposes of this section, its research octane number or motor octane number shall be such as the Commissioners may direct.’
(5) In subsection (2) of that section (meaning of ‘unleaded’), for the words from ‘or, if’ onwards there shall be substituted ‘ and petrol is ‘leaded’ for the purposes of this section if it is not unleaded.’
(6) In section 14(1) of that Act (rebate on light oil for use as furnace fuel), for ‘ 0.0166’ there shall be substituted ‘ 0.0181’.
(7) Subsections (1) to (3) and (6) above shall be deemed to have come into force at 6 o'clock in the evening of 28th November 1995 and subsection (4) above shall come into force on 15th May 1996.
5 Misuse of rebated kerosene.
(1) The Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1979 shall be amended as mentioned in subsections (2) to (5) below.
(2) In section 11(1) (rebate on heavy oil), for ‘and 13’ there shall be substituted ‘13, 13AA and 13AB’.
(3) In section 12(2) (restriction on use of rebated heavy oil for road vehicles), after ‘allowed’ there shall be inserted ‘(whether under section 11(1) above or 13AA(1) below)’.
(4) After section 13 there shall be inserted the following sections—
13AA ‘Restrictions on use of rebated kerosene.
(1) If, on the delivery of kerosene for home use, it is intended to use the kerosene as fuel for—
(a) an engine provided for propelling an excepted vehicle, or
(b) an engine which is used neither for propelling a vehicle nor for heating,
a declaration shall be made to that effect and thereupon rebate shall be allowed at the rate for rebated gas oil which is then in force, instead of at the rate then in force under section 11(1)(c) above.
(2) Subject to subsection (3) below, no kerosene on whose delivery for home use a rebate at the rate given by section 11(1)(c) above has been allowed shall—
(a) be used as fuel for an engine provided for propelling an excepted vehicle;
(b) be used as fuel for an engine which is used neither for propelling a vehicle nor for heating; or
(c) be taken into the fuel supply of an engine falling within paragraph (a) or (b) above.
(3) Subsection (2) above does not apply to any quantity of kerosene in respect of which there has been paid to the Commissioners an amount equal to duty on the same quantity of gas oil at the rate for rebated gas oil which is in force at the time of the payment.
(4) A payment under subsection (3) above shall be made in accordance with regulations made under section 24(1) below for the purposes of this section.
(5) For the purposes of this section and section 13AB below—
‘excepted vehicle’ means a vehicle which is an excepted vehicle under any provision of Schedule 1 to this Act and
‘kerosene’ means heavy oil of which more than 50 per cent. by volume distils at a temperature of 240 or less.
(6) For the purposes of this section and section 13A B below the rate for rebated gas oil which is in force at any time is the rate of duty which at that time is in force under section 6(1) above in the case of heavy oil as reduced by the rate of rebate allowable at that time under section 11(1)(b) above.
13AB Penalties for misuse of kerosene.
(1) If a person uses kerosene in contravention of section 13AA(2) above—
(a) the Commissioners may recover from him, in respect of the quantity of kerosene used, an amount equal to duty on the same quantity of gas oil at the rate for rebated gas oil which is in force at the time of the contravention
(b) his use of the kerosene shall attract a penalty under section 9 of the Finance Act 1994 (civil penalties) and
(c) if he uses the kerosene with the relev ant intent, he shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) If a person is liable for kerosene being taken into a fuel supply of an engine in contravention of section 13AA(2) above—
(a) the Commissioners may recover from him, in respect of the quantity of kerosene taken into the fuel supply, an amount equal to duty on the same quantity of gas oil at the rate for rebated gas oil which is in force at th e time of the contravention
(b) his becoming so liable shall attract a penalty under section 9 of the Finance Act 1994 (civil penalties) and
(c) if he has the relevant intent in relation to the kerosene being taken into the fuel supply, he shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) above, a person is liable for kerosene being taken into a fuel supply of an engine if at the time—
(a) he has the charge of the engine or
(b) subject to subsection (4) below, he is the owner of the engine.
(4) If a person other than the owner is for the time being entitled to possession of the engine, that other person and not the owner is liable.
(5) If—
(a) a person supplies kerosene having reason to believe that it will be put to a particular use, and
(b) that use is one which, if a payment is not made under subsection (3) of section 13AA above, will contravene subsection (2) of that section,
his supplying the kerosene shall attract a penalty under section 9 of the Finance Act 1994 (civil penalties) and, if he makes the supply with the relevant intent, he shall be guilty of an offence.
(6) In this section ‘the relevant intent’ means the intent that the restrictions imposed by section 13AA(2) above shall be contravened.
(7) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to a penalty of the statutory maximum, or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months...
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