Legislation could capture bona fide planning, says Robert Young
This year has seen dramatic changes to the landscape for residential property taxation most notably in the field of SDLT. These changes form part of a programme of measures aimed at restricting perceived avoidance and the ongoing consultation on the fair taxation of residential property transactions promises further upheaval in 2013.
As discussed below the legislation introduced in FA 2012 causes difficulties on a technical and practical level; hopefully attention focused on the deficiencies by the consultation process will lead to clarifications and improvements.
One of the more dramatic Budget announcements was the immediate introduction of a new SDLT liability for certain transfers of residential properties. FA 2003 Sch 4A inserted by FA 2012...
