The following Corporation Tax guidance note by Tolley provides comprehensive and up to date tax information covering:
A sale and leaseback situation arises where land or an interest in land is sold on the basis that the purchaser must grant a lease back to the vendor, or a person connected with the vendor.
This guidance note deals with the following anti-avoidance rules which may impact on sale and leaseback arrangements:
CTA 2010, ss 834-886 set out anti-avoidance rules relating to sale and leaseback. The provisions are split into two types, those dealing with land and those dealing with other assets.
The provisions are very widely drawn to catch any transaction involving the transfer of land. If, following the transfer of land, the person who was the transferor, or any person associated with them, has to pay rent under a lease of the land, then the scenario is caught by the provisions.
This is to stop traders from taking land which is a capital asset not receiving any tax deductions, and converting it to a lease with rental payments which will receive tax deductions. This is normally achieved by selling the land to a bank then immediately leasing it back. The capital sum received on the sale of the land is normally sheltered from capital gains tax in some way. The lease payments are usually front loaded to ensure the bank gets its money back as soon as possible.
A typical scenario may be a sale of land for £1m with rentals to be
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