Showing posts with label ATED. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ATED. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Feared non-dom reform is a go!

Following the Brexit vote, some people were wondering if the non-dom reform announced in the previous budget would indeed go forward or be shelved for the time being. There were concerns that many high net worth individuals would then decide to leave the UK putting further pressure on the premium property market. It seems that these concerns were not enough to stop the changes and now the government has released a further consultation document in which they confirm that they will press ahead with the proposed changes to the taxation of non-domiciled individuals. Here are the key changes:


IHT on Residential Property

The government has confirmed that, from 6 April 2017, all UK residential property will fall within the scope of UK inheritance tax. This means that shares in overseas companies holding UK residential property will no longer be considered as excluded property for IHT purposes, and will therefore be chargeable to UK IHT on the death of the owner, regardless of their domicile status. This treatment will also extend to overseas partnerships owning UK residential property. The definition of residential property is likely to follow the existing definition of a dwelling under the Non-Resident Capital Gains Tax rules.

Many non-UK domiciled have traditionally held UK residential property through an offshore structure in order to avoid exposure to IHT. Even following the introduction of the ATED (Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings) charge that now applies to properties worth over £500,000 held by an overseas company or other structure, many non-doms chose to retain their structures, accepting the ATED charge on the basis that the property would not be subject to UK IHT on their death.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Non-Residents to be subject to Capital Gains Tax

One of the announcements made today in the Autumn Statement is that capital gains tax will be extended to non-residents who own residential property. This extends the previous measure to bring non-resident companies within the scope of capital gains tax on 'high value' residential property, measure that was introduced alongside the infamous ATED (Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings). 

So now both high value and low value residential property gains will be taxed, regardless of whether the property is owned by a company or not. The change is to take effect in April 2015.

This move was expected but still, it could reduce confidence going forward. Non residents were strongly encouraged by the Government to take their properties out of companies so that a future sale of bricks and mortar (rather than shares) is subject to stamp duty. In exchange they would not be subject to the annual charge (ATED) nor to the capital gains tax. Having de-enveloped as they were asked to do, they will in fact be subject to capital gains tax after all.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings due soon

Announced in the March 2012 Budget, the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED) return -- called at the time the Annual Residential Property Tax (ARPT) -- is due by October 1st 2013. The corresponding tax liability has to be paid by October 31st 2013.

If all of the following criteria are met, an ATED return is required by 1 October 2013:
  • a company (other than a company acting as trustee of a settlement or as nominee), a partnership with corporate partners or a collective investment scheme which holds UK residential property, and
  • at least one single-dwelling interest was worth more than £2m on 1 April 2012 or at the date of acquisition if later, and
  • the single-dwelling interest was still owned on 1 April 2013

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Owning UK property in an offshore company

Until recently UK resident and non-domiciled individuals investing in UK property would have been advised to use an offshore company to hold the title. This not only allowed the owner to avoid the 40% UK inheritance Tax (IHT) but also offered the potential for future buyers to avoid stamp duty (SDLT) by acquiring the company shares rather than property title to the UK property. Perhaps not surprisingly the UK government decided to legislate in this year's Budget to prevent this loss of revenue from residential properties (commercial properties are unaffected).

The draft legislation published on 11th December 2012 outlines the new taxes and charges which will have to be paid by Non Natural Persons (NNP) owning property in the UK. There is already a new punitive rate of Stamp Duty (SDLT) where a NNP acquires a UK residential property for more than f2m (15% instead of 7%). And from April 2013, NNPs owning properties valued in excess of £2m will also be subject to an annual charge (called the Annual Residential Property Tax or ARPT). The charge will be £15,000 for properties valued between £2m and £5m, £35,000 for properties valued between £5m and £20m and £140,000 thereafter.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Owning property via a limited company

When you purchase properties in the UK, you might be tempted to setup a company to do the purchasing. As with any business incorporating has a great number of benefits, like reduced taxation and increased flexibility. Property investing however has some specificities that need to be kept in mind before you decide to make the jump. Here are some of the benefits and drawbacks of incorporating when doing property investments:

Benefits of owning property via a company

1. Flexibility regarding share transfers
2. Reduced stamp duty (0.5% vs. up to 5%)
3. Lower tax rates on net rents
4. Indexation allowance on capital gains
5. Profits can be reinvested
6. Income may be extracted by dividends
7. A company has limited liability