SDLT & Stamp Duty

The SDLT announcements were contained in Budget Notes 20 to 24. On the surface the proposed changes contained little to get excited about. There was quite a bit of tinkering with the existing rules to remove some unanticipated consequences plus the long-anticipated removal of the exemption for the contribution of land into a new unit trust. However on closer examination the removal of the unit trust exemption was not straightforward and there were several areas where practitioners may find themselves involved in serious discussions with clients (and possibly HMRC) over the course of the...