Four sets of amendments were published in relation to the Committee Stage amendments to the Finance Bill 2008.

The first two lists contained Opposition amendments. The third list was sponsored by the Minister for Finance and mainly contained technical amendments to the new VAT on Property regime. These amendments, particularly as they apply to transitional arrangements, require careful note.

The fourth list was also sponsored by the Minister for Finance and contained —

• Amendments to the anti avoidance legislation on convertible securities (s12)
• Technical amendments to the CO2 emissions based tax regime for vehicles
• A new Finance Bill section which appears to exclude certain types of investment companies from CGT relief on reconstructions or amalgamations (TCA97 s615) and intra group transfers (TCA97 s617)
• Retrospective effect (to 1 January 2007) for the new regime for foreign dividends
• A further tightening of the reporting requirements by agents for foreign properties

In addition to the four sets of amendments published on Friday 15 February, the Minister introduced two further anti-avoidance amendments.

ICAI Commentary on the Committee Stage Amendments is reproduced at Section 2.03.

Report Stage amendments are in the process of discussion, with the Finance Bill expected to be signed into law before Easter.