Income Tax Act 2007 section 770

Clearance procedure

Section 770 sets out the clearance procedure that allows a person to obtain advance confirmation from HMRC that a transaction will not be treated as giving rise to a tax charge under the provisions relating to transactions in land.

• A person can apply to HMRC for clearance before carrying out a transaction involving land, to confirm it will not trigger a charge under the transactions in land rules.
• The clearance function rests with the Commissioners for HMRC, rather than with a specific tax inspector, reflecting how clearances are handled in practice.
• This clearance procedure applies solely for income tax purposes; a separate equivalent provision under ICTA applies for corporation tax purposes.
• If HMRC mistakenly issue a clearance citing the wrong legislative provision, they will treat it as though it referred to the correct provision.