Alan Pink considers the meaning of the vague term ‘transactions in securities’, which is crucial for the interpretation of the anti-tax avoidance rules.
It’s in the nature of anti-avoidance legislation that it makes a lot more sense if you know the mischief against which the legislation was originally aimed.
In the case of the notorious ‘transactions in securities’ rules in ITA 2007, Pt 13, Ch 1 (sections 682 to 703; all references in this article are to ITA 2007), the original provisions were introduced as long ago as Finance Act 1960, and to some extent, their origins are, as they say, ‘lost in the mists of time’. However, the rules were, much more recently, updated and restated, and a certain amount of clarity injected.
Nevertheless, there is still a lot of room for doubt and debate.
