Policy paper

An outline of Transferrable Tax History

An outline of the transferable tax history mechanism for UK oil producers that will apply to deals that complete on or after 1 November 2018.

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Details

As announced in the Autumn Budget, the government will introduce a transferable tax history mechanism for UK oil producers for deals that complete on or after 1 November 2018.

This will allow companies selling North Sea oil and gas fields to transfer some of their tax payment history to the buyers of those fields. The buyers will then be able to set the costs of decommissioning the fields at the end of their lives against the TTH.

This will level the playing field between buyers and sellers of oil and gas fields, providing new investors in the UK Continental Shelf with certainty on the tax relief available for the decommissioning costs. This should encourage new entrants and fresh investment for a basin that still holds up to 20 billion barrels of oil.

Published 22 November 2017