IHT: Is your property related?
Valuing assets such as land and buildings is potentially tricky for various tax purposes, including inheritance tax (IHT) on making a chargeable lifetime transfer, or on death. One area of potential difficulty is valuing joint interests in land and buildings. For example, a property in London may be jointly owned, such as by spouses or […]
Claiming private residence relief: A sting in the tail?
The concept of capital gains tax (CGT) relief on the disposal of an individual’s home is straightforward enough. However, in practice errors by taxpayers (and agents) in private residence relief claims are seemingly common. In its ‘Capital Gains Tax for Land and Buildings Toolkit’ (tinyurl.com/HMRC-L-B-Toolkit), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) describes the omission of chargeable […]
Gifts to and from a company: Don’t forget IHT!
Transactions between a company and its owners are relatively common, particularly in owner-managed and family companies. Where an asset is being transferred to or from a ‘close’ (i.e. broadly a closely-controlled) company, most taxpayers (or their advisers) will normally be concerned about whether there are any potential capital gains tax or corporation tax implications for […]
Loans to traders: There’s no guarantee!
The number of capital loss relief claims made in respect of irrecoverable loans to businesses and guarantee payments has seemingly increased significantly since the commencement of the financial crash in 2007/08. Does it qualify? The conditions for claiming capital loss relief on loans to traders are relatively well known. For example, the relief applies to […]
Loans to traders: There’s no guarantee!
The number of capital loss relief claims made in respect of irrecoverable loans to businesses and guarantee payments has seemingly increased significantly since the commencement of the financial crash in 2007/08. Does it qualify? The conditions for claiming capital loss relief on loans to traders are relatively well known. For example, the relief applies to […]
Having a takeout
Earlier this year, a readers’ forum query ‘Company residential property transfer to daughters’ (Taxation, 28 February 2019, page 22) questioned the tax implications of the transfer of residential properties from a company to two daughters of the company’s sole director and shareholder. It is relatively common for assets to be transferred from a company on […]
Having a takeout
Earlier this year, a readers’ forum query ‘Company residential property transfer to daughters’ (Taxation, 28 February 2019, page 22) questioned the tax implications of the transfer of residential properties from a company to two daughters of the company’s sole director and shareholder. It is relatively common for assets to be transferred from a company on […]
Suspicious minds!
Information notices have been an important and valuable weapon in HMRC’s armoury of compliance powers since the information and inspection provisions were introduced more than ten years ago (all references in this article are to those rules in FA 2008, Sch 36, unless otherwise stated). The general rule The most common situation in which HMRC […]
Entrepreneurs’ relief: The elephant test
A ‘trading company’ can sometimes be difficult to identify for capital gains tax ER purposes. To make matters worse, the statutory definition is relatively brief. Whilst HMRC’s guidance is helpful in many cases, it is only that – guidance, not legislation, so does not have the force of law. At times, it is necessary to […]