Historic Transfer of Property Ownership While Non Domiciled.

I am writing to seek guidance and clarification regarding the notification of HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and the Land Registry for a historic change in ownership percentages of a commercial property. The property in question was originally owned solely by my father, who subsequently made transfers of ownership percentages to his two adult sons. The first transfer of ownership occurred in [Year], during which the property was transferred from my father's sole ownership to joint ownership with his adult sons as Tenants in Common. This transfer was facilitated with the assistance of a solicitor and may have involved the execution of a Deed of Trust or Declaration of Trust. At that time, my father was a non-domiciled resident outside the UK, and as such, this transfer did not give rise to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) obligations. This transfer was correctly submitted to the Land Registry. Approximately a year later, my father decided to make another change in ownership percentages. This resulted in my father owning 2% of the property, with each of his two sons owning 49% each. Importantly, the change was documented in an agreement signed by all three parties, and each party retained a copy for safekeeping. Similar to the initial transfer, this change did not incur CGT obligations due to my father's non-domiciled status. We are now seeking guidance on whether it is advisable or necessary to retrospectively notify both HMRC and the Land Registry regarding this second historic change in property ownership percentages. Our primary concern is to ensure that the Land Registry documents accurately reflect the current ownership percentages for estate planning and succession purposes, and to ascertain if HMRC requires notification for record-keeping purposes. We are more than willing to supply signed copies of the agreement dating back to the date of the transfer. This will allow for the correct ownership percentages to be recorded by both HMRC and the Land Registry. We want to ensure the accuracy of the records and comply with current regulations. Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your response and appreciate your assistance in helping us navigate these historic property ownership changes with both HMRC and the Land Registry.

Hi
HMRC should be informed of this so that the details are held for any future capital gains charges that may rise.
You would need to contact the land registry direct to see what details they required.

Hi there That's a very brief response. Can I ask if it's ok to inform HMRC retrospectively of the historic change, or if this is in someway in contravention of any processes? Also, I wanted to ensure that there wouldn't be any penalty levied by HMRC for not notifying them at the time of the change of ownership percentages while the father was living abroad, as there wouldn't have been any CGT due to the father's non dom status. Finally, as ownership percentages that were made during the initial transfer are currently held by Land Registry, and not updated after the second transfer, would they not need to be notified also, or is it only HMRC that would need notifying. Thanks F

Hi,

We can only give general advice in this forum.  

Yes. All we would need is a copy of the changes declared to land registry.

Thank you.

Hi there I appreciate you can only give general advice, but bearing in mind all I have written above, can I just confirm, the correct procedure to inform HMRC of the change to ownership percentages that was made almost 15 years, would be to inform Land Registry of this retrospective change, and to then supply HMRC with a copy of these changed Land Reg documents? HMRC will then be happy to accept these changes have been made retrospectively? Is the above correct? Finally, what is the best way to supply HMRC with the updated Land Registry details? Regards

Hi Franco,
Thank you for your question.
Any change in ownership is only valid if received with in 60 days of the signed evidence.
They cannot be accepted retrospectively.
I would suggest you write to HMRC at BX9 1AS and on receipt HMRC will note the record accordingly.
Thank you.