BP 2008 Annual Report Download - page 99

BP Annual Report and Accounts 2008
Additional information for shareholders
Additional tax considerations
UK inheritance tax
The Estate Tax Convention applies to inheritance tax. ADSs held by an
individual who is domiciled for the purposes of the Estate Tax Convention
in the US and is not for the purposes of the Estate Tax Convention a
national of the UK will not be subject to UK inheritance tax on the
individual’s death or on transfer during the individual’s lifetime unless,
among other things, the ADSs are part of the business property of a
permanent establishment situated in the UK used for the performance of
independent personal services. In the exceptional case where ADSs are
subject both to inheritance tax and to US federal gift or estate tax, the
Estate Tax Convention generally provides for tax payable in the US to be
credited against tax payable in the UK or for tax paid in the UK to be
credited against tax payable in the US, based on priority rules set forth in
the Estate Tax Convention.
UK stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax
The statements below relate to what is understood to be the current
practice of HM Revenue & Customs in the UK under existing law.
Provided that any instrument of transfer is not executed in the UK
and remains at all times outside the UK and the transfer does not relate
to any matter or thing done or to be done in the UK, no UK stamp duty is
payable on the acquisition or transfer of ADSs. Neither will an agreement
to transfer ADSs in the form of ADRs give rise to a liability to stamp duty
reserve tax.
Purchases of ordinary shares, as opposed to ADSs, through the
CREST system of paperless share transfers will be subject to stamp duty
reserve tax at 0.5%. The charge will arise as soon as there is an
agreement for the transfer of the shares (or, in the case of a conditional
agreement, when the condition is fulfilled). The stamp duty reserve tax
will apply to agreements to transfer ordinary shares even if the
agreement is made outside the UK between two non-residents.
Purchases of ordinary shares outside the CREST system are subject
either to stamp duty at a rate of £5 per £1,000 (or part, unless the stamp
duty is less than £5, when no stamp duty is charged), or stamp duty
reserve tax at 0.5%. Stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax are
generally the liability of the purchaser.
A subsequent transfer of ordinary shares to the Depositary’s
nominee will give rise to further stamp duty at the rate of £1.50 per £100
(or part) or stamp duty reserve tax at the rate of 1.5% of the value of the
ordinary shares at the time of the transfer.
An ADR holder electing to receive ADSs instead of a cash dividend will
be responsible for the stamp duty reserve tax due on issue of shares to
the Depositary’s nominee and calculated at the rate of 1.5% on the issue
price of the shares. It is understood that HM Revenue & Customs
practice is to calculate the issue price by reference to the total cash
receipt to which a US holder would have been entitled had the election to
receive ADSs instead of a cash dividend not been made. ADR holders
electing to receive ADSs instead of the cash dividend authorize the
Depositary to sell sufficient shares to cover this liability.
Documents on display
BP’s Annual Report and Accounts is also available online at
www.bp.com/annualreport. Shareholders may obtain a hard copy of BP’s
complete audited financial statements, free of charge, by contacting BP
Distribution Services at [phone] or through an email request
addressed to bpdistributionser[email protected], or BP’s US Shareholder
Services office in Warrenville, Illinois at [phone] or through an
email request addressed to [email protected].
The company is subject to the information requirements of the US
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 applicable to foreign private issuers. In
accordance with these requirements, the company files its Annual
Report on Form 20-F and other related documents with the SEC. It is
possible to read and copy documents that have been filed with the SEC
at the SEC’s public reference room located at 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549, US. You may also call the SEC at +1 800-SEC-
0330 or log on to www.sec.gov. In addition, BP’s SEC filings are available
to the public at the SEC’s website www.sec.gov. BP discloses on its
website at www.bp.com/NYSEcorporategovernancerules, and in its
Annual Report on Form 20-F (Item 16G) significant ways (if any) in which
its corporate governance practices differ from those mandated for US
companies under NYSE listing standards.
Details of some of BP’s other publications are listed on the inside
back cover.
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