Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 185

Associated persons

Section 185 defines who is treated as an "associate" of another person for the purposes of the close company distribution rules in sections 176 to 183 and section 186.

• Spouses or civil partners living together are associates of each other, and children under 18 are associates of their parents (and vice versa) — but no other family relationships create an association.
• A person who controls a company is associated with that company, and two companies controlled by the same person are associated with each other.
• Trustees holding shares in a company are associated with the settlor, the settlor's spouse or civil partner, children under 18, and any beneficiary with a material interest (more than 5% of the trust property) — but this does not apply to exempt approved pension scheme trusts or qualifying employee benefit trusts.
• Personal representatives of a deceased person's estate are associated with any beneficiary entitled to a material interest in shares forming part of that estate, and any person who habitually acts on another's directions regarding a company's affairs is associated with that other person.