Upper Tribunal decision in How and grounds for stamp duty land tax purposes

This is the very question that was put to the Upper Tribunal in The How Development Ltd v CRC (UT/2021/000065) (The How) after the decision of the First-tier Tribunal (TC8194) was appealed by the taxpayer.

Notwithstanding the effort that goes into creating tax statutes inevitably the exact meaning to be given to words in legislation – in this case ‘grounds’ for the purposes of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) legislation – and the potential consequences for taxpayers can be the subject of some debate.

The initial decision was considered by Julie Butler and Fred Butler’s article ‘Walk in the woods’ (Taxation 18 November 2021 page 12).

Background

The facts of the case are worth rehearsing for context. In broad terms the taxpayer acquired a large property ‘The How’ for the sum of £2.8m. The property was made up of around 15.5 acres of land...