Oil Taxation Act 1975 section Sch 5 para 1

Claim periods and claims

Schedule 5, paragraph 1 sets out how claim periods are established for an oil field, including the timing of the first claim period and the options available for subsequent claim periods.

• The first claim period for an oil field ends at either the following 30 June or the following 31 December after the field is determined, at the election of the responsible person, and extends back in time without limit before that determination.
• Each subsequent claim period is either six months or twelve months long, running from the end of the previous claim period, again at the responsible person's election.
• If the responsible person does not actively elect for a six-month claim period, the default is that the next claim period will automatically be twelve months.
• Any election must be made by written notice to the Board (HMRC).