Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 section 730BA

Personal portfolio life policy

Section 730BA defines what constitutes a "personal portfolio life policy" and sets out the conditions under which a life policy will or will not be treated as one, for the purposes of the additional tax charge imposed by section 730F(1)(b).

• A personal portfolio life policy is broadly a life policy where the benefits are linked to property or an index that may be selected or influenced by the policyholder, a connected person, or their agent, rather than being chosen solely at the discretion of the assurance company.
• A policy is not treated as a personal portfolio life policy if the only property that may be selected consists of units in an investment undertaking, property in an internal linked fund of the assurance company, or cash (unless acquired to realise a gain on disposal), provided the opportunity to select was genuinely available to the public and evidenced in published marketing material.
• For policies commenced on or after 5 December 2001, additional requirements apply: the assurance company must offer the opportunity on a non-discriminatory basis; and where 50 per cent or more of the property is land, no single investor may invest more than 1 per cent of the stated capital requirement.
• Policy terms are deemed to permit selection by the policyholder where they allow the exercise of an option to select, give the assurance company discretion to offer selection, permit a change of terms to allow selection, or allow the policyholder to require the appointment of an investment adviser to make the selection.