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HMRC internal manual

Corporate Finance Manual

CFM96750 - Interest restriction: joint ventures: treatment when no elections apply: example 2: transparent JV

For visual illustration view Diagram showing X plc investing 50% in a joint venture, with profits and interest expenses shown for X plc and the JV

In this example we consider X plc, A worldwide group that has a 50% share of JV. X plc has operating profits of 100 and pays interest to a third party of 50. JV has operating profits of 150 and pays interest to a third party of 60. The JV in this example is transparent.

Accounts X plc JV X plc Group
Operating profit100150100
3rd party interest expense (QNGIE)- 50- 60- 50
Share of profits of JV0-45
Profit Before Tax509095
Calculation of Group RatioX plc Group
Qualifying net group-interest expense - (A)50
PBT95
Add back interest expense50
Group-EBITDA - (B)145
Group Ratio ( A/B)34%
Interest allowance X plc
Tax-EBITDA175
X plc group ratio34%
Interest allowance60
Net tax -interest expense80
Less interest allowacnce- 60
Interest restriction20

X plc

The accounting is exactly the same as for example so the group ratio remains the same. It is 34%. 

However looking at the taxable profits of the X plc group all figures from its share of JV are brought into the X plc's tax computation. This means that X plc recognises 30 of interest from JV and 75 of operating profits. Therefore X plc has net tax interest of 50 + 30. It also included tax EBITDA of 75 from JV meaning that the tax-EBITDA for the group is 175. This means that there is an interest allowance of 60 which creates an interest restriction of 20.

JV

JV is transparent and is not a taxable entity. Therefore the interest allowance and interest restriction do not apply to JV.