cannon-chambers-logo
Menu

CHARLIE JOHNSON V HMRC TC/2024/00254

This was a successful appeal by the taxpayer about whether multiple dwellings relief (“MDR”) from SDLT applied to his purchase of a residential property with a self-contained annex. In a carefully structured and considered decision the FTT reviewed the evidence thoroughly and held that HMRC’s objections concerning the interconnecting doors and shared garden at the property did not prevent MDR from applying.
Although the interconnecting doors were not lockable at the effective date, the unchallenged evidence that the taxpayer had fitted security door braces shortly after completion meant that the FTT was satisfied that the internal connecting doors were capable of being made secure from both sides and the door braces were not considered to be alterations to the property.
In this regard, the FTT quoted HMRC’s own guidance at SDLTM00425 about whether the door between the annex and the main dwelling “can be locked, or is readily capable of being made secure from both sides.”  With regard to HMRC’s objections that the shared garden allowed the occupant of the annex to look into the main dwelling and that occupant would expect to use the garden as a private, secure garden, the FTT dismissed these on the basis that a hypothetical tenancy agreement covering the annex would properly regulate these matters and that anyway, shared gardens and new property developments where occupants of one dwelling can see into another were not uncommon.
You can read the full decision here.

You might also be interested in...

ANDREI TRETYAKOV V HMRC TC/2023/16164

This decision concerned an SDLT mixed-use appeal, i.e., whether the property in question was of mixed residential and non-residential use. The additional SDLT if the property was wholly residential was £484,250. It might be thought that genuine commercial use of a part of a building where the other parts were...

THE WOOL HOUSE LIMITED V HMRC TC/2022/11576 and 2023/00414

In this appeal to the FTT, HMRC sought recovery of an SDLT refund paid to the taxpayer and received by it around the same time as the issue of the closure notice refusing the claim and asking for the refund to be repaid with interest. The core question for the...

Contact Us

Fill out the form and we will be in touch to discuss how we can help. You can also WhatsApp or call us.

Contact Us