Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 section Schedule 16 paragraph 9

Exceptions to the withdrawal of group relief

Schedule 16 paragraph 9 sets out the circumstances in which group relief that was claimed on a land transaction will not be clawed back, even though the buyer and seller companies have left the same group.

• Group relief is protected when the buyer leaves the seller's group because the seller, or a company above the seller in the group structure, is being wound up or otherwise ceases to exist.
• Group relief is also protected where the buyer leaves the seller's group as a result of a share acquisition by another company that qualifies for stamp duty acquisition relief under section 75 of the Finance Act 1986, provided the buyer immediately joins the acquiring company's group.
• However, if the buyer subsequently leaves the acquiring company's group within three years of the original relieved transaction (or under arrangements made within that period), and the relevant land interest is still held, the relief is clawed back as though the buyer had left the seller's group at that point.
• "Arrangements" is defined broadly to include any scheme, agreement or understanding, whether or not legally enforceable, and any associated company that leaves the acquiring company's group as a consequence of the buyer doing so is also caught.