In Goode Cuisine Company v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 163 (28 March 2018) the FTT found that the higher rate of SDLT applied to the acquisition of a residential property with a view to increasing the capacity of a bed and breakfast business.
Goode Cuisine Company had purchased a property with the intention of increasing the capacity of its existing bed and breakfast business and claimed relief from higher rate SDLT under FA 2003 Sch 4A para 5B on the basis that it had the intention of exploiting the property ‘as a source of income in the course of a qualifying trade’. HMRC considered however that the higher rate applied as the company’s intended use of the property did not fall within the definition of qualifying trade contained in para 5B(3). It accepted that the first condition was satisfied; the trade was to be carried on...
