30.These changes are being made as a result of the Court of Appeal judgement in the cases of The Trustees of the Pollen Estate Company Limited and Kings College London v HM Revenue and Customs. The Court ruled that, where a charity purchased property jointly, as tenants in common, with a non-charity purchaser, relief from SDLT is available on the charity’s share of the property.
31.Amending the legislation to provide for partial relief will provide clarity for taxpayers on how partial relief will apply. In addition, to ensure that that the availability of partial relief cannot be exploited to avoid SDLT, the SDLT relief that the charity can claim will be restricted to the lower of:
The percentage share which the charity holds in the property, and
the percentage of the purchase price paid by the charity for its share in the property.