This was a successful appeal by the taxpayers involving an uninhabitable dwelling they had purchased in London SW3 in 2020. They said that the dwelling was uninhabitable because of several defects which rendered the property potentially dangerous but HMRC did not accept that the property was uninhabitable.
The Tribunal carefully reviewed the detailed valuation and survey reports about the property that were commissioned at the time of purchase and also heard the evidence given by the purchaser under examination by his counsel, Mr Cannon, and also under cross-examination by HMRC. Based on this evidence, the Tribunal decided that the property was not a building that was used or suitable for use as a dwelling on 9 March 2020, the effective date of the transaction, because there were several elements which rendered the property potentially dangerous. Accordingly, the non-residential rates of SDLT applied to the purchase, and HMRC’s Closure Notices were varied to show that the amount shown as due by the taxpayers was reduced to nil, and no further tax was due from them. At the parties’ request the decision is in short form.
You can read the decision here.
