The Property Speculator

Property and VAT

Having at least an understanding of tax and how it relates to a property development is valuable knowledge. Obviously the larger the project(s) the more likely tax will feature strongly in your plans.

Contrary to what many protestors in London feel, I think there’s nothing noble in paying more tax than you absolutely have to. Therefore, it’s good to learn.

© Copyright Sebastian Ballard and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

At the moment, VAT is not fully recoverable on a conversion from a commercial property to a residential one. This means that costs in the form of labour and materials will be subject to VAT at the rate of 5% on this particular type of conversion. If you are buying the materials yourself, you will be charged the normal rate of VAT at the point of sale and will only be able to claim it back once the build is complete and it qualifies with the criteria set by HMRC. If the project is a new build, some aspects might be zero-rated for VAT. If you are the person purchasing materials or procuring labour, you will again be charged the full rate of VAT at the point of purchase or invoice. This however can be claimed back from HMRC under the ‘DIY House Builders & Converters VAT Refund Scheme’ or if you are VAT registered, all incurred costs would offset your annual VAT liability.

Quoting information available on the HMRC website, the following table briefly shows the rate of VAT that should be paid on particular construction work:

Construction Work	Rate of VAT
Construction of new qualifying dwellings & communal residential buildings	0%
Conversion of a non-residential dwelling into a qualifying dwelling for a housing association	0%
Conversion of a non-residential building into a qualifying dwelling (other than for a housing association)	5%
Renovation or alteration of empty residential dwelling	5%
Approved alterations to a listed dwelling	0%
Alterations to suit the condition of people with disabilities	0%
Installation of energy saving materials and grant funded heating system measures.	5%
Development of a residential caravan park	0%
Home improvements on domestic properties on the Isle of Man	5%

To qualify as a ‘qualifying dwelling’, the following conditions have to be met:

If it is built from scratch, any pre-existing building is demolished to ground level.
No more than a single facade (or double in the case of corner sites) of an original building is used if that is a condition or requirement of planning or listed building consent.
If a new building is constructed that shares an existing wall of a neighbouring property, no internal access must exist between them.
If an existing building is extended and this creates an additional dwelling/dwellings. This does not include dwellings that are attached to business premises and cannot be disposed of separately. The additional dwelling must also be wholly within the enlargement or extension to be zero-rated.
An Annexe to an existing building is constructed. This does not include ‘granny annexes’ or enclosed separate swimming pools.
The building is one of several constructed at the same time on the same site. This must be used together with the other buildings for a ‘relevant residential purpose’.

Services provided by professionals such as Architects, Surveyors, Project Managers and Supervisors are always standard-rated for VAT. Plant equipment, scaffolding hire, security fencing and mobile offices cannot be zero-rated and will attract the full rate of VAT (although the service of erecting and dismantling scaffolding will be zero-rated if associated with zero-rated work).

Sometimes only part of a building might qualify for zero-rating, such as a mixed-use development. In this case, the work that is carried out on the qualifying portion of the development can be zero-rated. This is called apportionment.

When selling or granting a leasehold interest in a zero-rated building, it is usually only the first transfer that does not attract VAT. On mixed-qualifying developments this can be apportioned appropriately. All subsequent transfers will be subject to VAT but this can offset the VAT bill of the party purchasing the interest.

Usually, a property that has previously been lived in cannot be zero-rated and will attract a VAT rate of 5%. However if you can prove that the property has not been lived in for at least 10 years, then it will be zero-rated for VAT incurred in renovation/alteration work to make it habitable as a residential dwelling. In order to prove the building has not been lived in for a minimum of 10 years, records from the local authority in reference to council tax or electoral roll can be used, alternatively a letter from a local authority Empty Property Officer can provide sufficient evidence to render the other forms of proof unnecessary.

In the renovation or alteration of empty residential property, most VAT will be charged at a reduced rate (currently 5%). To qualify as ‘empty’, the property must have been unlived in for at least 2 years prior to commencing the renovation work (this ignores ant occupancy by squatters or a property guardian). If the property is inhabited during the renovation works, it still qualifies at the reduced rate provided there is a clear period of 2 years immediately prior to commencement of work. The occupants can move in on the day after work begins.

Be aware that if you take advantage of a zero-rating on VAT, the building must stay in the specific residential use it was designed and built for. If not, a taxable charge will apply. This charge decreases the longer the building stays in its original use; after 10 complete years no taxable charge will apply.

Unfortunately as from the 1^st March 2011, if the building is sold or it is leased to a party who does not intend to use it for its intended residential purpose a taxable charge will apply:

Number of complete years before sale or change in use:	VAT Charge (as a percentage of the total VAT that would have been payable).
0	100%
1	90%
2	80%
3	70%
4	60%
5	50%
6	40%
7	30%
8	20%
9	10%
10	0%

Subsequently, the zero-rating facility is only really suitable for constructor/investors to take advantage of. However professional developers are likely to be in a position to avail themselves of the reduced rate of 5%.

For further information on VAT on property, follow this link to the HMRC guidance notes.

Dec 29th, 2011

Using Valuation Tables to Produce an Investment Appraisal

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When an appraisal is being put together for a particular property, the Investment or Valuation Professional will refer to ‘Parry’s Valuation & Investment Tables’. This is simply a reference book full of tables (funnily enough) that assist the practitioner in carrying out mathematical analysis of investments. Admittedly this doesn’t sound a particularly interesting read; however it’s a very handy thing to know how to use because it allows a way of comparing several investments to each other and looking at them in different ways.

© Copyright Andy F and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

One of the principles of investment is that a particular sum of money available now is worth more than the same amount at some future date. This is for 2 reasons:

The effects of inflation over time. For example £1 now is worth more than £1 in ten years.
The fact that the money could be invested in various forms. So £1, invested at a rate of 10% per annum will be worth £1.10 next year. This is the ‘compensation’ for having to wait for the money. Why would you wait a year and only receive the same amount you could have now?

Without tables, detailed analysis of financial information would be very tedious. The tables within the book give the reader a simple multiplier figure to apply to a relevant sum of money. An example of this is:

A Commercial property lease is agreed to at a rent of £10,000 per annum for 20 years. On the face of it, this would produce £200,000 for the Landlord (£10,000 x 20).

However because of the effects of inflation, the rent of £10,000 per annum would be worth considerably less in 20 years time than its present value. Using the relevant table from the book and an assumed rate of inflation, it’s possible to produce a present value of 20 years worth of rent. To calculate the present value of £10,000 at an assumed rate of say, 5% the ‘Present Value of £1 per Annum (Quarterly in Advance)’ set of tables can be used. This produces a multiplier figure of 12.85 (this particular figure is simply a multiplier, and until it’s used in conjunction with the annual rent figure means very little).

If the annual rent figure of £10,000 is multiplied by 12.85, it produces £128,500.00. Therefore if inflation is expected to rise at around 5% per year, it would be reasonable to give the 20 year lease a present value of £128,500.00.

The equation used for this is:

n = Number of years

i = the interest receivable on each £1. Therefore if the rate percentage is R, then i = R/100

In the above example, it’s only the lease of 20 years which is being valued. The Landlord actually has the ‘facility’ of receiving a similar sum into perpetuity (or until he sells the property to another investor) because the building will theoretically always have the potential of producing an income in the form of rent paid to the Landlord. If the investment potential of the property itself is valued, it produces a different figure:

Again, using a rate of 5%, we can reference a multiplier figure of 20.62 (using the ‘Years Purchase in Perpetuity’ tables). If this is applied to the annual rent figure of £10,000, a total of £206,200.00 is produced.

The equation used for this is:

r = effective yield

On reflection, the figure of £206,200.00 does not seem particularly high considering we are examining earnings into perpetuity. However it should be noted that this is not a reflection of accumulated future earnings. It simply provides a way of placing a present value of the ongoing income potential of the property.

These 2 examples demonstrate the simpler aspects of what is possible with Valuation tables. The tables can and do go much deeper. It’s possible to appraise various investments (not only property) with allowances for a large range of interest and growth rates and taxes too. For example, it’s possible to obtain the multipliers for calculation of:

The rate of Internal Rate of Return (IRR). This is the actual rate of return received when all expected rent increases are considered.
Annual Sinking Fund. This is the amount that must be put aside each year to provide capital to replace an asset (remember a leasehold interest is a wasting asset, the closer to the end of the term the less the legal interest is worth).
The Years Purchase with Dual Rate (‘Dual’ because it includes the aspect of a sinking fund). The additional tables allow consideration of tax rates of between 10% and 50%.

I have found that until an investment or valuation professional gets into the very complicated aspects of appraisal, it is not really vital to understand the actual equations. The very practice of knowing where to look to obtain the correct multiplier is far more important. The use of valuation and investment tables is like almost everything, the more frequently they are used, the easier the process becomes.

Through the use of Valuation and Investment tables, quite complex calculations can be made such as Discounted Cash Flow.

Oct 16th, 2011

5 Taxes on Property you can’t Avoid, Part 2

This article is the 2nd Part of looking at property taxes.

3. Capital Gains Tax

This is not a tax on the amount received from a transaction. It is a tax on the increase in value of the asset accumulated over the term of ownership.

Capital Gains Tax (CGT) is not payable on a company’s trading profit. It is payable on any sum that arises from the sale or release of an asset. A company must pay CGT in the same way as an individual must.

In relation to property trading, the HMRC website states the following:

If you’re a sole trader or a partner in a partnership and your trade is in property, you’ll pay Income Tax rather than Capital Gains Tax on any profits you make when you sell or otherwise dispose of property. This may include a one-off purchase and sale of a property. You usually have to pay any Income Tax due by completing a Self Assessment tax return.

It’s different if the property trading business is carried on by a limited company – in which you may be a director or shareholder – any profits on properties disposed of form part of the total profits of the company on which it pays Corporation Tax.

This means that if you are a property trader, you’re only likely to have to pay CGT if you sell associated equipment, rather than the actual property.

Entrepreneur’s Relief might be available to property traders and partners in a property trading business to reduce CGT liability. The HMRC website explains how entrepreneur’s relief works:

You can make claims for Entrepreneurs’ Relief on more than one occasion as long as the total qualifying gains in all your claims doesn’t exceed the lifetime limit.

For 2010-11 to 22 June 2010 Entrepreneurs’ Relief reduces the amount of gains liable to Capital Gains Tax by four-ninths on all qualifying gains up to the maximum lifetime limit. From 23 June 2010 the four-ninths reduction no longer applies – instead all qualifying gains up to the maximum lifetime limit made are taxable at 10 per cent.

Entrepreneur’s relief does not apply to companies though.

Business Asset Rollover Relief might be available if business assets (such as property) are sold and any profit reinvested into a new, similar asset. This is not an outright reduction as such (like Entrepreneurs relief is), it is a postponement or (as the title suggests) a ‘rollover’ of the CGT liability.

To be eligible, the assets (old and new) must be used for business purposes. The new asset must also be purchased between 1 year before and 3 years after the old one is disposed of.

It is possible to claim business asset rollover relief for partial reinvestment of capital gains, rather than the whole amount.

4. Inheritance Tax

The intention of Inheritance Tax (IHT) is to tax the person who either gifts an asset within 7 years of their death or ‘lifetime gifts’. In the event of death it (obviously) has to be the recipient who pays IHT.

Lifetime Transfers are when a party gifts an asset (the most common is a property) to a second party when the first party (the donor) is still alive. If the donor survives 7 years from the date of transfer, then the transfer is known as a Potentially Exempt Transfer (PET), and no IHT is payable.

If the donor does die within 7 years of transfer, then IHT will be payable from the date of transfer. Tapering relief might be available if the donor survives the 7 year point from the date of transfer. No tapering relief is allowed if the donor does not survive the 7 years; the transfer is regarded as a Chargeable Lifetime Transfer (CLT) and IHT is payable on the full estate value.

Transfers on Death are only payable on estates valued at £325,000 or more (for tax year 2011-2012). The estate value adopted is the one at the ‘instant before death’. Values in excess of the current threshold are charged at the current rate (40% for 2011-2012).

Therefore for example, if an estate is valued at £400,000 then the value over the threshold (£75,000 in this case) is charged at 40%. This works out to be £30,000.

Any IHT already paid within the preceding 7 years can be used to offset the liability and reduce the sum payable.

5. SDLT

This is paid in the event of a substantial property interest transfer, such as purchase (SDLT is paid by the purchaser) or a long-leasehold occupancy (in which case, SDLT is paid by the Leaseholder).

SDLT is not tapered. This means that if the value is over any of the thresholds, the whole value is taxed, not just the amount that is over the threshold.

So, if a property is bought for £126,000; the amount of SDLT (at current rates) payable is £1,260.00 (1% of £126,000). Likewise, if the property is bought for £124,000, then no SDLT is payable.

This situation results in an accumulation of property values at just below the threshold values. For example, there are many properties for sale at around £249,950. There really aren’t many at £255,000.

For the tax year 2011-2012, the current SDLT rates are:

For properties up to £125,000, the rate is zero. No SDLT is payable.
For properties from £125,000 to £250,000; the standard rate is 1% of the property value, and for first-time buyers, it is zero.
For properties from £250,000 to £500,000; the rates for standard and first-time buyers is 3% of the property value.
For properties from £500,000 to £1m, the rates are 4%.
For properties over £1m, the rate is 5%.

These articles are merely designed to give an introduction to the basic taxes that are likely to be experienced when a novice developer or investor begins their venture (whether it is done through a limited company or privately). I highly recommend making sure you are aware of current taxation rates. This is very important when carrying out a property financial appraisal.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/businesses/

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May 4th, 2011

5 Taxes on Property you can’t Avoid, Part1

This article is intended to give you a basic understanding of the different taxes involved in property. You will certainly come into contact with most of these taxes, property transactions are unfortunately an excellent source of revenue for HMRC.

1. Income Tax

As the label suggests, this is simply a tax on income. Taxes are collected over a period of 12 months, this runs from 6th April one year, until the 5^th April the next. For the purposes of income tax, this year is known as the ‘year of assessment’ (for corporation tax it’s known as a ‘financial year’).

If the rules concerning tax are slightly ambiguous or deficient, it might give a taxpayer the opportunity to avoid tax. This is known as tax avoidance, and is legal. The alternative is to deliberately not follow the laws on tax, which is tax evasion, and is illegal.

All UK residents who are liable for income tax are given a tax-free allowance. The income minus this allowance is known as taxable income. It is on this taxable income that the current income tax rates are applied to, this arrives at the total income tax payable for that person. For the tax year 2011-2012 the personal allowance is £7,475.00, the basic rate is 20% and that is payable on all income up to £35,000. On income between £35,001 and £150,000 the rate is 40%. So to use an example, if a person is paid £45,000 per year, his tax will be calculated as follows:

The first £35,000 will be taxed at 20%, however from this the allowance of £7,475 is deducted to produce £27,525. This sum will be taxed at 20%.

The remaining £10,000 will be taxed at 40%.

20% of £27,525 is £5,505

40% of £10,000 is £4,000

£5,505 + £4,000 = £9505

Therefore on an income of £45,000 per annum, £9,505 will be payable in tax.

Note. The upper rate of income tax is 50%, payable on income exceeding £150,000. This wasn’t mentioned in the main body because it’s almost certain that if you fall into this bracket, you will have an excellent idea of the tax you will have to pay.

2. Corporation Tax

This is a tax charged on the net profit of companies resident in the UK. It is calculated in a similar way to income tax. The basic rate of corporation tax is 26%, but this is payable on net profits that exceed £300,000.

Corporation tax is calculated on all net profits arising over the period of a financial year. This means that all the company expenditure that it must pay throughout the tax year, is not included in the final taxable amount. This does not mean however that a company can purchase anything just to lower their tax liability. Some items are regarded as fixed assets; these are items that do not depreciate immediately, such as property, IT equipment and motor vehicles. Fixed assets value can contribute to the profit figure. Net profit means that all the company’s salaries, rent payments on premises and any tax already paid is subtracted from the profit figure. The remainder is charged at the corporation tax rate to produce the sum payable.

Although a company that operates in the ‘Property’ sector can use mortgage repayments to reduce corporation tax payable (as the debt is classed as a liability), there are limits on this. The UK uses rules known as International Accounting Standards (IAS); IAS 16 covers the accounting treatment of property, plant and equipment. In the case of property it stipulates the Revaluation Model, which means:

The asset is carried (between financial reporting periods) at a revalued amount, being its fair value at the date of revaluation less subsequent depreciation and impairment, provided that fair value can be measured reliably. [IAS 16.31]

The Revaluation Model

Under the revaluation model, revaluations of the asset should be carried out regularly, so that the carrying amount of an asset does not differ materially from its fair value at the balance sheet date. [IAS 16.31]

If an item is revalued, the entire class of assets to which that asset belongs should be revalued. [IAS 16.36]

If a revaluation results in an increase in value, it should be credited to other comprehensive income and accumulated in equity under the heading “revaluation surplus” unless it represents the reversal of a revaluation decrease of the same asset previously recognised as an expense, in which case it should be recognised as income. [IAS 16.39]

A decrease arising as a result of a revaluation should be recognised as an expense to the extent that it exceeds any amount previously credited to the revaluation surplus relating to the same asset. [IAS 16.40]

When a revalued asset is disposed of, any revaluation surplus may be transferred directly to retained earnings, or it may be left in equity under the heading revaluation surplus. The transfer to retained earnings should not be made through the income statement (that is, no “recycling” through profit or loss). [IAS 16.41]

What this means, is that property assets should be regularly revalued. If the value increases, this sum is placed into the accounts as ‘revaluation surplus’. This is because this increase is not trading profit and does not represent a tangible amount of money anyway. If the revaluation figure represents a decrease, it should be covered up to a certain point by that accumulated in the revaluation surplus account, once the deficit exceeds this, it is regarded as an expense, and therefore a liability.

Close companies (known as such because the shares are not available for widespread public purchase) that offer benefits and distributions to their members, must pay tax on these payments.

In Part 2, we’ll cover Capital Gains Tax (CGT), Inheritance Tax (IHT) and Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).

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May 1st, 2011

All about Stamp Duty Land Tax

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) was introduced in 2003; and although it is often still known as ‘Stamp Duty’, it is now different from it.

The original Stamp Duty was first introduced in 1694, and was a tax on documents (i.e. documents used in transactions). Several years ago, Stamp Duty was referred to as a ‘voluntary tax’. This is because there wasn’t much control over registration for it (it was meant to be compulsory). Now however, there is no escaping it.

Stamp Duty (as opposed to SDLT) is payable at the point of purchase, on transactions that are evidenced in writing. When the duty has been paid (this should be within 30 days to avoid penalties), the Stock Transfer Form (in the case of shares) is stamped. HMRC delegates the determination of the Head Charge to the Stamp Office who states the amount of stamp duty that must be paid. Stamp Duty Reserve Tax is payable on electronic transactions (such as some company share purchases).

The property equivalent to Stamp Duty is SDLT. It is paid in the following circumstances:

At the point of purchase (on qualifying properties)
At the commencement of a long-leasehold occupation
At the commencement of commercial tenancy agreements, where the total rent payable before the tenant’s first opportunity to ‘break’ amounts to a sum that qualifies for SDLT.

Current SDLT rates are:

For properties up to £125,000, the rate is zero. No SDLT is payable.
For properties from £125,000 to £250,000; the standard rate is 1% of the property value , and for first-time buyers, it is zero.
For properties from £250,000 to £500,000; the rates for standard and first-time buyers is 3% of the property value.
For properties from £500,000 to £1m, the rates are 4%.
For properties over £1m, the rate is 5%.

SDLT is not tapered, like income tax. This means that if the value is over any of the thresholds, the whole value is taxed, not just the amount that is over the threshold.

So, if a property is bought for £126,000; the amount of SDLT (at current rates) payable is £1,260.00 (1% of £126,000). Likewise, if the property is bought for £124,000, then no SDLT is payable.

It must be stressed, that SDLT is paid by the purchaser (although the Coalition Government is understood to be considering plans to transfer the SDLT liability to the vendor). It must also be paid in a way that is completely separate from the mortgage. I have heard of first time buyers enquiring whether they can include the SDLT charge in their borrowing from the mortgage company. This is not permitted!

If a new leasehold property is occupied by a tenant, the rates are:

For tenancies that total less than £125,000 for the life of the lease, no SDLT is payable.
For tenancies that total more than £125,000 over the life of the lease, 1% of the value that exceeds £125,000 is payable (so if a tenancy will total £130,000 over the total lease term, £50 is payable (1% of £5,000)).

Clearly, the lease term and rent would have to be quite substantial to qualify for this.

On commercial property, slightly different rates apply.

For properties that are not newly built:

For purchase values up to £150,000; or annual rent is below £1,000, the rate is zero.
On purchase values up to £150,000; or annual rents above £1,000, the rate is 1%.
For purchase values between £150,000 and £250,000, the rate is 1%.
For purchase values between £250,000 and £500,000, the rate is 3%.
For purchase values above £500,000, the rate is 4%.

For commercial properties that are newly built:

For tenancies with a term-value of up to £150,000, the rate of SDLT is zero.
For tenancies with a term-value of more than £150,000, then 1% of the value that exceeds £150,000 is payable.

For further information on SDLT, a visit to the HMRC website is recommended – http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/intro/rates-thresholds.htm

Apr 6th, 2011

Capital Gains Tax on Property

The following post is NOT intended to be comprehensive financial guide, nor is it a definitive guide for calculating your tax liability on any income received from investments. This post is based upon tax avoidance, NOT tax evasion. For accurate advice regarding tax liabilities, I highly recommend you consult a Chartered Accountant or Tax Accountant and refer to the relevant website of the appropriate tax authority for the region you live in.

CGT or Capital Gains Tax is a very large consideration for potential property developers and investors. According to the website of HM Revenue & Customs:

Capital Gains Tax is a tax on the gain or profit you make when you sell, give away or otherwise dispose of something that you own, such as shares or property.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cgt/intro/basics.htm

What this means, is that if you receive a lump sum from the sale of a property (for example) then you will be taxed on the difference between the amount you paid for it and the amount it is eventually sold for. Unfortunately there are very few ways to avoid this. Even if the property was gifted to you by a relative or left in a will, the calculation for CGT will still be based around the assessed market value of the property when you received it.

Even if you were to ‘gift’ the property to another party, you might still be taxed because you would be disposing of it. The reason for this is that it makes it more difficult for people to avoid being taxed. There is no end of highly inventive ways to ‘hide’ transactions of money, carried out by far cleverer people than me. However, the person disposing of the property is being taxed on the ‘gain’, not the actual financial profit.

Even if the asset you dispose of is overseas, you will be liable for tax as soon as the money enters the UK, such as being paid into a bank account. Make no mistake, HM Revenue & Customs will leave no stone unturned if they have reason to believe you have attempted to evade CGT.

There are exemptions however. Your ‘principle and primary residence’ (your home) is exempt. Your car and any personal possessions worth less than £6000 will not be taxed either should you dispose of them.

The rate of CGT that must be paid will depend upon the amount of taxable personal income you earn. This is where the calculation gets a bit tricky because the taxable amount is charged at different rates and there is ‘Entrepreneurs Relief’ that you might qualify for.

For an idea of how much CGT you might be liable to, go to my Capital Gains Tax calculator. Enter the required information into the white boxes and ignore the information boxes (in grey) until your data has been entered.

Entrepreneur’s relief is an allowance that has conditions to satisfy before qualification can be established. For gains that qualify, a rate of 10% CGT is payable on them, instead of either 18% or 28%. There is currently a lifetime limit of £5 million for Entrepreneurs relief. The Government’s website Business Link gives the following explanation:

Entrepreneurs’ Relief allows individuals and some trustees to claim relief on qualifying gains, up to a maximum lifetime limit, made on the disposal of any of the following:

all or part of a business
the assets of a business after it has ceased
shares in a company

The relief applies for the years 2008-09 onwards.

Who qualifies?

The relief is available for you as an individual if you:

are in business, for example as a sole trader or as a partner in a trading business
hold shares in your personal trading company

The relief is also available for some trustees.

Entrepreneurs’ Relief is not available for companies.

Conditions that must be met

Depending on the type of disposal, certain qualifying conditions need to be met throughout a qualifying one year period.

For example you must have owned the business during a one year period that ends:

on the date your business was disposed of – if you are selling all or part of your business
on the date your business ceased – if your business has ceased

How the relief works

You can make claims for Entrepreneurs’ Relief on more than one occasion as long as the total qualifying gains in all your claims doesn’t exceed the lifetime limit.

For 2009-10 Entrepreneurs’ Relief reduces the amount of gains liable to Capital Gains Tax by four-ninths on all qualifying gains up to the maximum lifetime limit.

From 23 June 2010 the four-ninths reduction above no longer applies – instead all qualifying gains up to the maximum lifetime limit made are taxable at 10 per cent.

2009-10 example

Your business stopped trading and in July 09 you sell an asset of the trade, making a gain of £90,000.

Entrepreneurs’ Relief reduces the gain liable to Capital Gains Tax by four-ninths. Four-ninths of the £90,000 gain is £40,000 (£90,000 × 4/9 = £40,000).

You must work out the Capital Gains Tax due on the remaining gain of £50,000 (£90,000 − £40,000 = £50,000).

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk

If you run your property venture as a company, not as a private individual, there might be advantages if you are a higher rate taxpayer. This is because although your company will be liable for CGT when selling an asset, the net profit you make will be subject to Corporation tax rather than Income Tax. Corporation tax is currently charged at a lower rate (20% providing the profits do not exceed £300,000) than that of the upper rate of income tax (40%).

Further information on other aspects of property taxation visit this link.

Feb 6th, 2011

Borrowing to fund a property development

Financial leverage is basically the practice of using borrowed money to supplement equity (non-borrowed money). In the field of private property development and investment, this is often done at a ratio of between around 20%-50% equity, the remainder being borrowed in the form of a mortgage.

The term ‘gearing’ is closely related to this subject. Gearing is the particular ratio of debt to equity. The proportion of debt is expressed as a percentage of the equity. So if a property is geared at a ratio of 65%, this means that the amount of capital borrowed to purchase the property is 65% of the total investment. In the world of finance, if a particular company is geared at 65%, then it would be regarded as high risk. However, private property investors might have to borrow up to 3 times the equity level. This would not be regarded as risky in the same way as corporations, but you should always acknowledge the risk factor in any investment. The return on your investment is the payback for accepting this risk.

A certain amount of financial leverage is not only (for the majority of people) inevitable, but it is also desirable. This is because of 2 reasons:

It enables a speculator to increase his holding several times over. It makes more financial sense to place 25% of your total investment into each of 4 properties, rather than placing 100% of it into a single one. This enables investment diversification (which helps minimise risk) and maximises potential future returns.
Purchasing a property using 100% equity is the most expensive way to run a development or investment company. This is because tax is payable on a company’s NET profits. If the vast majority of your return is regarded on paper as profit then you must pay tax on it. Mortgage repayments are regarded as liabilities and will subsequently reduce tax liabilities.

Property is quite unique as an investment as it enables speculators to borrow higher levels against the property value. This is because it offers a tangible investment. Even if the property remains unoccupied or unsold for an extended period of time, the lender will always have (at the very least) the land value to guard against the loss of their capital. Even if the building upon the land is destroyed somehow, the land will always have some value. Most other investments do not offer this.

An example of why financial gearing increases returns is as follows:

An investor purchases a property at a price of £100,000. Equity is £35,000, and £65,000 is borrowed.

Investment capital £100,000

Less loan £65,000

Property owners equity £35,000

Rent for initial 5 years £8,000 per annum

Less loan interest £5,200 per annum

Net income to property owner £2,800 per annum

Return on Property Investor’s equity £2,800 ÷£35,000 = 8%

So the property investor achieves a return of 8% per year for the first 5 years. However it is in the subsequent years where the advantages of leverage become clearer.

Reviewed rent for next 5 year term £10,000 per annum

Less loan interest £5,200 per annum

Net income to property owner £4,800 per annum

Return on Property Investor’s equity £4,800÷£35,000 = 13.71%

Subsequent terms will reflect even greater returns in comparison to the level of equity placed into the investment. This investment would be a 65% gearing.

It is highly unlikely that an investment of only £35,000 could produce a return of 13.71% and more if invested in stocks. Prior to the recession, Hedge Fund Managers spoke of producing returns of up to 40% per annum. However, a minimum investment is required (far in excess of our example value of £35,000) and the investment risk would be regarded as far higher than that of property. Many hedge funds have gone out of business post recession, taking their invested capital with them. Remember though, property is a tangible investment and it is difficult to foresee a situation where it would ever be worthless.

Nov 28th, 2010

Property Tax

When considering the best approach for your venture into property investment, it is important to differentiate between different ways of structuring the finance. This will help prevent you paying more tax than you need to. It must be stressed that evading your tax liability is a criminal offence; and if HMRC/IRS suspect that you have attempted to do this, you can expect a thorough investigation that might continue for up to several years.

That said, these agencies are actually very approachable and have a cooperative attitude. This is simply so that taxpayers do not pay more tax than they are required to. It makes good business sense to me.

In the UK and the US, tax is payable on a company’s NET profit. This means that all the company expenditure that it must pay throughout the tax year, are not included in the final taxable amount. This does not mean however that a company can purchase anything just to lower their tax liability. Some items are regarded as Fixed Assets (these are normally items that do not depreciate immediately, items such as IT equipment or motor vehicles).

In the UK, if a private individual has a supplementary income or is self-employed, they must compile a self-assessment tax form. This works in a fairly similar way, in that net profit is taxed and most expenditure is not.

The reason these basic principles have been explained, is because investment property provides an income that will contribute towards your taxable amount. No one wants to pay more tax than they should, and your individual circumstances will affect how you structure your property financial gearing.

If you regularly pay income tax at the higher rate, it makes sense to run your property venture as a limited company. This is because any profit/income that is collected on an annual basis will be liable to corporation tax which is charged at a much lower rate than the higher personal tax rate. Starting a limited company is very straightforward and will cost somewhere around £80-£100. This method however, will be subject to a bit of administration. You will be required to submit a Company Return (specifying shareholders and capital) and a Corporation tax return every year. These obligations are not difficult to carry out but you will probably be subject to a fine if you miss due-by dates.

The interest payments on an investment property mortgage qualify as company expenditure; this means that they serve to reduce the company annual profit, and therefore the amount of tax payable. Many professional property investors structure their mortgage to only pay-off the interest on a month-to-month basis. Obviously the only way you will ever clear the balance of this mortgage is by finding the capital from another source, or to sell the property and pay it off. This method works fine if it is only ever the capital value of the property you are interested in. As we’ve been reminded in the last few years, property values can fall as well as increase but a capital loss is not particularly likely if you hold it for 20-30 years. The property is then sold; the mortgage paid off, tax paid and the remainder is yours (or the company’s). If you have a repayment mortgage that pays off the capital as well as the interest, the monthly payments will be more expensive but there will eventually be a time where the property is mortgage free. At this point, the rent payments then count as all-profit. This makes the books look much healthier but remember you pay tax on the net profit. So if the property is completely mortgage free, you will be paying the maximum amount of tax.

Another point to make regarding companies is that if you are the director of a property investment company, you cannot take money out of the company without paying income tax on it. Your private financial matters are entirely separate from the company’s. Your property company can pay you a salary, but this is taxable like all personal income.

If you currently pay income tax at the lower rate, it might be better to run your venture on a personal level. When selling, if the property is not your ‘primary and principle residence’, you will be subject to paying Capital Gains Tax. This is calculated at a certain rate (currently 18%) on the NET gain of the asset. This means that if you purchased a property in December 2000 for £80,000 and you sold it in December 2010 for £120,000 your net gain would be £40,000; you would be liable to pay around 18% of £40,000. The actual calculation is slightly more involved than this though, as individuals have an annual exempt amount will can also be factored in (this is currently £10,100). For information on Capital Gains Tax and relief, follow this link to the HMRC website.

You might be covered by ‘Entrepreneurs Relief’. There are certain criteria that must be met, but it applies to the disposal of business assets if you are a sole-trader or are a partner in a trading business. There is a lifetime limit currently, of £2 million. This should be investigated fully if you believe you fit the criteria. For information on Entrepreneurs Relief, refer to the HMRC website by following this link.

Oct 25th, 2010