Reliance on trust arrangements to present the accounts on a substance over form basis
In these accounts, the entries related to investment properties, long-term third-party loans and most of the directors' loan balances reflect the underlying substance of the arrangements, but do not reflect the legal ownership arrangements for the investment properties or the associated mortgage contracts.
Shortly after the company was incorporated, it acquired the full equitable interest in the investment properties by a transaction with the unincorporated Natosa partnership. Accordingly, there has been no change in the legal ownership arrangements or in the various mortgage deeds. Therefore, at each balance sheet date, the legal owners of the properties as registered at the Land Registry, and the persons legally liable to repay the mortgage loans, remain Mr & Mrs Thompson as before.
There is a formal trust document supporting this interpretation, and, in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (GAAP), these accounts are prepared to reflect the underlying substance of the transaction rather than its form.
Treatment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on the initial vesting of the investment properties in the company
No SDLT has been borne by the company in its acquisition of the investment properties of the Natosa partnership. At the time of the transaction the directors have relied on expert advice from a Chartered Tax adviser. He confirmed that the company was able to rely on Schedule 15 of FA 2023 and that o SDLT was payable.