Mark Smith Head of Chambers Cotswold Barristers

That is not an option for barristers. We are all self-employed sole traders with no corporate protection.... Read More

If you have suffered loss as a result of my negligence then my insurer will deal with it and compensate to bring you back into the position you would have been in but for my negligent acts.... Read More

I'll write to you on this... Read More

s.310 Finance Act 2004 says that where there is not a promoter any notifiable scheme or arrangements must be disclosed by the end user.
To work out if the scheme or arrangements are notifiable 4 tests must be passed, as you can see if you work through the steps in the article.
Only one hallmark applies in test 4 where the arrangements are provided to SME businesses, namely if the scheme is a financial product, which SIS isnt.
I am not sure how the other hallmarks such as premium fees would apply if the arrangements could not be offered to clients of the designer of the arrangements without falling foul of the 'promoted scheme' rules.... Read More

You are not comparing like with like. DN explictly states he is not an adviser and he takes no responsibility for anything he says.... Read More

Paul, we can only implement structures that comply with law and practice applicable at the time. You may well be right on future changes, but HMRC are content with how we go about incorporation as things stand-they have examined many of our cases and always been satisfied.

On the other hand, the way some hybrid LLPs are operated is in clear breach of law and practice, as fully set out in the article above.... Read More

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Dear Paul and others,

This is not a knee jerk reaction or an attempt to undermine other advisers' work for the sake of it. Believe me, we are busy enough with our own clientele.

This arises from a number of landlords approaching us with concerns about the robustness of their structures and the correctness of the filings at HMRC and Companies House made in their names.... Read More

Or you could look at incorporation into your own Ltd Co, and then look to prune your portfolio.
Any CGT would be rolled-over into company shares and sales post-incorporation would attract Corp Tax only on any profit from the rebased MV at incorporation date.... Read More

Lisa can transfer up to £125,000 chargeable consideration (deemed assumption of the loan proportion by her husband) to her spouse with no SDLT, but an SDLT return will need to be filed. The 3% uplift does not apply between spouses and civil partners.
Under £40,000 no return is needed.
There is no CGT on transfers between spouses and civil partners either.... Read More

These requirements arise from the Government’s efforts to combat money laundering by requiring transparency in a number of hitherto private transactions, including trusts. Several of our services include the creation of a trust and we have advised on these requirements to all past and present clients who are caught by them.

a) LLP.
In an LLP the members hold the partnership properties on trust for the LLP. Our view is that this type of trust is not caught by the requirement. Certain trusts created in the context of commercial transactions are excluded from registration by Sch3A (14) of the Regulations 2017 when they meet the following requirements.

The trust must be created for the purpose of:
• Enabling or facilitating a transaction effected for genuine commercial reasons, or
• Protecting or enforcing rights relating to such a transaction. The trust must also be incidental to the principal purpose of the transaction.

b) Substantial Incorporation Strategy or SIS (formerly Beneficial Interest Company Transfer or BICT).
In each of these transactions, unless all of the legal titles have been transferred to the company at the Land Registry, the legal owners hold the properties on trust for the company. Our view is the trusts created in these transactions are not caught by the requirement.

Certain transactions (including sale of land) require specific formalities to be carried out in order to transfer legal title. Where beneficial title passes on completion, but legal title does not pass until those formalities are carried out, the legal title may be held on trust for the relevant party to protect their interests, pending completion of those formalities.

Trusts created in that context are excluded from registration by Sch3A (15) of the Regulations 2017 if they meet the requirements below.

This exclusion applies to a trust created on the transfer or disposal of an asset, where the purpose of the trust is to hold the legal title to the asset on trust for the person to whom the transfer or disposal is being made until the time when the procedure required by law to effect the transfer or disposal of legal title is completed.

c) Discretionary Trusts in Smart Companies or with Freezer/Growth share structures.

These trusts will need to be registered. The first deadline is 1st September 2022 at present, so there is no particular pressure of time.

There are two separate registration requirements.

The first arises from the trust being an express trust, and the second additional requirement arises when the trust becomes liable to any form of tax. It is highly unlikely that this will arise before the 10-year anniversary charge to IHT, and even then is unlikely to arise given the value of the assets that would be held in the trust at that juncture. Nevertheless, you should take professional advice from your accountant.

The first deadline arises on 1st September 2022. The lead trustee (nominated by the trustees to file the registration) or your appointed agent will need to obtain a Government Gateway Code HERE

Lead trustees
All trustees are equally legally responsible for the trust, but you must nominate one ‘lead’ trustee to be the main point of contact for HMRC. The lead trustee will receive the trust’s UTR if registering a taxable trust and a URN if registering a non-taxable trust. You will need to keep their contact information up to date.

Beneficiaries
You should give the details of all known beneficiaries who can benefit from the trust. If you have more than 25 beneficiaries in any one beneficiary type, keep a note of additional beneficiaries for your own records.

Named beneficiaries
You must give details of all individuals, trusts, charities and organisations named as beneficiaries in the deed. Some named beneficiaries will only benefit when a certain event happens, such as when another beneficiary dies. You can include these in a class of beneficiaries until the event occurs. At that point, provide their details on the register as a named beneficiary.

Classes of beneficiaries
You can use a ‘class’ of beneficiaries to describe a group of individuals who are not yet known or named individually in the trust deed, for example, future grandchildren. This can also include named potential beneficiaries. When a member of a class of beneficiaries benefits from the trust, and so becomes known, you must give their details. You will be asked to give a description of each class.... Read More

Correct.
But if you make the 2 dwellings into one in the three years subsequent more SDLT is due based on the tax for a single dwelling.... Read More

This proposed transaction would be between 'connected parties' and would be deemed to take place at market value regardless of the actual consideration paid.

The issue is how to establish the market value. Your son has tried to sell during a bull market and the best offer he has received is the 'BMV' company-ironically this offer may have set the benchmark for 'MV'.

To avoid an excessive CGT bill your son will have to show the price you pay was the best achievable by reasonable marketing over a reasonable time between a willing seller and a non-desperate buyer.... Read More

"If we draw up a declaration of trust now, I understand the signatures cannot be back dated. However, can it essentially say that this has been in force since 2014, and we are only writing it down to reconfirm the terms? Would we be able to draw up such a document, and would it be effective?"

Yes. Please message me.... Read More

I can say that I have prepared an advice on these claims which is positive. I have had lengthy dealings with MSC and their principals. They are FCA licensed and I have no reason to doubt their integrity.... Read More

The 2016 value you use should be the same as that used by your uncle when he declared his CGT on the gifts to you and your brother.... Read More

Not sure how tenants would suffer from having a landlord whose business is more efficiently structured. Shaz would not advise a client to how to make more profit by raising the rent. In fact, a business with an optimal structure is going to create less pressure to raise rents.... Read More

Surely this is an Assured Tenancy not AST?... Read More

The water company may have RV for 1990 as this is still used to set water rates on non-metered buildings... Read More

See also https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/husband-and-wife-civil-partners-divorce-dissolution-and-separation-hs281-self-assessment-helpsheet/hs281-spouses-civil-partners-divorce-dissolution-and-separation-2016... Read More