New queries, issue 4250

Quarry query

Our client company operates a quarry on land owned by a company’s shareholders and a lease allows the company to extract the necessary stone from the quarry in return for the payment of mineral royalties (per ton) at a commercial level. The lease also provides for an annual rental payment by the company although this has to date been waived by the owners.

The shareholders are considering selling their shares together with the land to a third party and the question of entrepreneurs’ relief has been raised.

Our first thought was that rent (as defined in TCGA 1992 s 169P(4)(d)) has been paid and therefore there would be a restriction of entrepreneurs’ relief on the disposal of the land.

However on a very simplistic level the mineral royalties have not been paid for...