Higher SDLT rates for additional residential purchases: planning points

Here we are in the brave new world of higher Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) rates for certain residential property purchases.  As from 1 April 2016, anyone buying an additional UK residential property, such as a second home or buy-to-let, faces paying a surcharge of 3% above the standard SDLT rates (see my blog of 14 January 2016 for further details of the changes as they were announced in the Autumn Statement 2015).

UK residential property remains a popular investment class for many people who already own their own homes, so are there any planning opportunities?

Trustees and the PSC Register

From 6 April 2016, virtually all UK incorporated companies (and LLPs, but in this blog I’ll refer to companies only) will have to maintain a register of individuals or entities who control them.  As a result, individuals who either own, directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the shares or voting rights of such companies, or who hold the right to appoint or remove a majority of directors or have the right to exercise, or actually exercise, significant influence or control over the company may receive a notice from the company requiring them to provide information for inclusion on the People with Significant Control (PSC) Register. 

Trusts (UK or offshore) are caught by these new provisions too because the law provides that, if the trust were to be regarded as an individual and, as such, would satisfy any of the above conditions, then those persons who exercise, or have the right to exercise, significant influence or control over the trust are PSCs that need to appear on the company’s PSC Register.

New dividend taxation rules: what trustees should be doing

The taxation of dividends is set to change in the new UK tax year beginning 6 April 2016.  The 10% dividend tax credit will go, replaced by a new £5,000 dividend allowance that permits the first £5,000 of an individual’s dividend income to be taxed at 0%. Dividends will still sit as the top slice of the individual’s income, so if the dividend would otherwise be taxed at the higher or additional rate of Income Tax (IT) but for the dividend allowance, the allowance gives the individual 32.5% or 38.1% tax relief.  Individuals with significant dividend income have little to cheer about, though, as the allowance is paltry.  Much less has been written about the effect that all this has on trustees, who are not taxed as individuals for IT purposes.  How are trustees going to fare and what planning steps should they be considering?

Probate fee increases: a death tax by any other name?

Probate fees do not, on the whole, cause much consternation.   After someone dies, an application to the Probate Registry is often needed to obtain a grant – proof acceptable to English financial institutions that they can safely pay over the deceased’s assets to the personal representatives (PRs) named on the grant.  This exercise, one of the few occasions when PRs can swear at a lawyer without anyone getting upset (swearing the oath), is usually fairly straightforward and the application to the Probate Registry for the grant currently costs £155 if done through a solicitor.  However, in its recently published consultation, the Government states that it would like to raise probate fees to £20,000 for some estates.  Yes, £20,000 just to get the grant!  No wonder some quarters of the press have dubbed this another death tax. 

Best Will for…..providing for minor children

Parents, in particular, face a bewildering choice of structure options when it comes to making provision for their children in their Wills.  Often the prospect of their child inheriting a large sum of money at age 18 does not appeal.  Instead, being able to delay a child taking control of their inheritance until age 21 or 25, or later, or arranging for a series of staggered payments over the years is preferred.  However, the tax consequences of the various options are not always explained and parents can end up making inappropriate choices. 

Executors: it’s time to turn detective or risk a penalty

An essential part of any executor’s job is to work out the assets and liabilities of the estate that they are administering.  An executor also owes a statutory duty to HMRC to correctly report the value of the estate to it so that, if any Inheritance Tax is due on the estate, the right amount is paid. 

The job of the executor is made more difficult because the Inheritance Tax rules require gifts made in the seven years prior to death to be brought back into account.  However it’s not uncommon for an executor to know next to nothing about the deceased’s personal finances, let alone what gifts the deceased has been making and to whom.  This can be a real problem for executors because if the executor reports to HMRC that there have been no gifts but HMRC is able to produce evidence of gifts having been made, the executor may receive a tax geared penalty, calculated with reference to the potential tax forgone if the gift had remained undiscovered, which the executor is personally liable for.  So how much detective work does an executor have to do to avoid any risk of getting a penalty for undeclared gifts?

New Stamp Duty Land Tax proposals – a market changer?

In the Autumn Statement last month, the Government proposed that purchases of additional residential properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland should be subject to an extra 3% Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on top of the standard SDLT rates.  All types of residential property will be caught – second residences, buy-to-lets or furnished holiday lets – unless worth under £40,000. 

 

The key test of whether the new rules will apply is this.  If, at the end of a day in which an individual purchases a residential property, that individual owns two or more residential properties and the purchase was not replacing their main residence, the additional 3% SDLT will be due.  The main exception to this (for home-owners) is if the individual was purchasing a main residence and can demonstrate that a previous main residence was sold within 18 months of the purchase.

 

How might the proposed changes affect individuals?