Transfer of land to wife or children and CGT
Posted: May 19th, 2024, 5:51 pm
I have a third of an acre plot of land recently valued at £90k without outline planning permission. My intention is to obtain outline planning permission and sell it. I can't see an issue with obtaining planning permission for a couple of bungalows, given that the owner of the same sized adjacent plot managed to do so and has, in fact, built three bungalows (none have been put on the market).
I'm a higher rate tax payer. My wife is not and neither are my two daughters (both in their 20s).
I was therefore thinking about transferring the land to either my wife's name (no CGT on transfers between spouses) or gifting it to my daughters prior to trying to obtain planning permission.
If the eventual sale occurred say within a year from now, would I be at risk of HMRC concluding that I'd done the transfer purely for the avoidance of CGT?
Probably not relevant but although the valuation was for £90k there are electricity lines over part of the plot. The surveyor did point out that this might mean that a buyer of any house built there would not get a mortgage. This would severely reduce the land valuation to nearer £30k.
I'm a higher rate tax payer. My wife is not and neither are my two daughters (both in their 20s).
I was therefore thinking about transferring the land to either my wife's name (no CGT on transfers between spouses) or gifting it to my daughters prior to trying to obtain planning permission.
If the eventual sale occurred say within a year from now, would I be at risk of HMRC concluding that I'd done the transfer purely for the avoidance of CGT?
Probably not relevant but although the valuation was for £90k there are electricity lines over part of the plot. The surveyor did point out that this might mean that a buyer of any house built there would not get a mortgage. This would severely reduce the land valuation to nearer £30k.