Accountants & Business Advisers

VAT Advice on Land and Property

The VAT treatment of land and property transactions is complex. The VAT team at James Cowper Kreston has huge technical and practical knowledge gathered from prior HMRC employment and commercial experience, which can provide certainty to you. Errors in VAT treatment, whether on your sale or by your suppliers can cause significant disruption and risk to the business.

We provide clear explanations and advice on the following activities and transactions...

 

 

Selling Land or Property
  • Promotion agreements
  • Overage.  Explain the VAT liability of future overage income
  • Explain the VAT Transfer of a Going Concern rules.  Does the buyer and the seller need to VAT registered?
  • The impact and practicalities of Opting to Tax
  • Completion of the VAT section in the standard legal property questionnaire
New Housing Developers
  • Scope of the VAT zero rate construction
  • How to treat the purchase of non-builders materials
  • VAT impact of short-term letting before outright sale
  • VAT compliance checks on suppliers
  • VAT treatment of section 106 planning gain costs
Conversions from Commercial to Residential Use
  • Scope of the reduced rate construction services
  • Onward VAT treatment of outright sale after conversion
Landlords
  • VAT treatment of service charges including utilities and insurance to tenants
  • Tax point when a managing agent collects the rent
  • Lease surrenders
  • VAT treatment of deposits

 

Property Business with a Mixture of Taxable and Exempt Sales
  • How to accurately perform a partial exemption calculation
  • How to attribute input tax and suggest practical simplifications
  • Consider whether a special method would be beneficial
Charities and Schools
  • Conditions which allow you to issue a certificate to the builder to zero rate the construction of a RRP building
  • Remove VAT from a landlord’s rent demand even though they have opted to tax
  • VAT treatment of the lease of sporting facilities including MUGA
Livery and Riding Schools
  • Explain the VAT treatment of livery
  • Is VAT registration compulsory, or if not is voluntary registration beneficial

For more information on any of the above, please click here to contact the Indirect Tax team