Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 section Schedule 2 paragraph 5

Transferee not treated as entering into a land transaction solely because of a pre-completion transaction

Schedule 2 paragraph 5 clarifies that the person who receives the rights under a pre-completion transaction (the transferee) is not treated as having entered into a land transaction purely because that pre-completion transaction took place.

• A pre-completion transaction on its own does not create a land transaction for the transferee.
• The transferee only becomes liable to land transaction tax when they actually complete the underlying land transaction itself.
• This prevents a double charge arising — once on the transfer of rights and again on the completion of the land purchase.
• The provision ensures that the assignment or transfer of contractual rights before completion is not, by itself, a taxable event for the person acquiring those rights.