VCM17160 - Qualifying trades: hotels and similar establishments

ICTA/S297 (5A); ITA/S197; ITA/S308; FA00/SCH15/PARA31

Activities consisting of the operation or management of hotels are excluded. This goes wider than ownership of a hotel, but applies only where the company occupies the premises or has some legal interest in them.

A hotel is defined in the Hotel Proprietors Act, 1956 as 'an establishment held out by the proprietor as offering food, drink and, if so required, sleeping accommodation, without special contract, to any traveller presenting himself who appears able and willing to pay a reasonable sum for the services and facilities provided and who is in a fit state to be received.'

The exclusion extends beyond hotels to any establishment, such as a guest house or hostel, where the main purpose is the provision of overnight accommodation, with or without catering services. It does not cover institutions such as prisons and boarding schools, where, although overnight accommodation is provided, the main purpose is quite different.

For the EIS, this exclusion applies only in respect of shares issued after 16 March 1998.

For the VCT scheme, it applies only in relation to investments made by a VCT with money originally raised after 16 March 1998.