Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 section Schedule 16 para 8

Withdrawal of group relief when buyer leaves the group

Schedule 16 paragraph 8 sets out when group relief from land transaction tax is withdrawn because the buyer company leaves the same corporate group as the seller within three years of the original transaction.

• Group relief is withdrawn if the buyer leaves the seller's corporate group within three years of the transaction, or leaves pursuant to arrangements made within that three-year window.
• Withdrawal applies where the buyer (or a relevant associated company that also leaves the group) still holds the chargeable interest acquired in the relieved transaction, or an interest derived from it, unless it was subsequently acquired at market value in a chargeable transaction where group relief was available but not claimed.
• The tax charge on withdrawal is calculated as if the original consideration had been the market value of the property (plus any rent if a lease was granted), with the charge being the full amount or an appropriate proportion reflecting what is still held.
• Certain exceptions apply: group relief is not withdrawn in specific circumstances set out in paragraphs 9 and 10, and separate rules in paragraph 12 deal with withdrawal where there have been successive intra-group transactions.