Radical changes for non UK residents holding UK commercial property

In a nutshell

In a consultation document published on Budget Day, it was announced that with effect from April 2019, all sellers of UK property will be subject to UK taxation on their chargeable gains. This introduces a new charge for gains on disposals of commercial properties by non UK residents and extends the rules for residential property sales by non residents to indirect sales and disposals made by widely-held companies.

More details

Whilst the detail is subject to consultation, the commencement date; who is in scope; and the core features have been fixed.

A key change is the proposal to tax disposals by non residents of indirect interests in UK property such as property companies and collective investment vehicles including REITs and PAIFs. A disposal is in scope where:

• The entity directly or indirectly derives 75% of its gross asset value from UK property; and
• The non-resident selling the interest has, together with any related parties, held a 25% or greater interest at any point in the five years up to disposal.

Rebasing will be available so that only gains arising from April 2019 will be chargeable.

There will be an anti forestalling rule for certain arrangements entered into after the announcement and the new rules will be supported by a Targeted Anti-Avoidance Rule (TAAR).

Finally

These are significant changes to the taxation of UK property which will effectively level the playing field between non resident and UK resident investors. Investors should monitor developments and consider the impact on them.

If you have any questions about this may affect you, please contact us. We will publish more information on the final details once the consultation period is ended.