So you don’t know anything about North Sea oil profits and their taxation beyond that there are, or at least used to be, lots of profits, that there are, or at least used to be, lots of Government income and that one has to consider not only corporation tax but also several other taxes and duties mostly known by their initials. In addition, let us suppose that you want to improve your knowledge. Here is a relatively easy, if very expensive, way of doing something about it.

This is an attractively presented and clearly written introductory account of the United Kingdom rules relevant to the taxation of North Sea oil activities. After a brief introduction sketching the background on North Sea oil licences and Government royalties the authors provide 100 pages of explanation of Petroleum Revenue Tax, 66 pages of outline of U.K. Corporation Tax, 34 pages on a number of issues relevant to both corporation tax and PRT (principally Changes of Interest on the Licence or Field but also Unitization and Abandonment Losses), 12 pages on employee taxation (including National Insurance Contributions), 12 pages on VAT and four pages on Customs and Excise Duties.

For the tax specialist who does not know much about this area this book provides a readable introduction to PRT and, to a lesser extent, the issues relevant to both PRT and corporation tax. The material is not treated consistently; the PRT chapters contain many statutory