International Property Laws

You, meanwhile, remain non-resident. You do not at any stage occupy the property (not for at least five years after the purchase). If you do so, you run two risks. Firstly, there’s the one about look-through, but secondly, there’s also the possibility that your company will be deemed UK-resident.

It’s offshore, which is fine, and it owns a UK property, which is fine, but if its whole activity, as evidenced by the activities of its directors and shareholders (this means you), is to manage, administer, control and occupy the property in the UK, then you get looked through with a vengeance. Your company is operating solely in the UK, so it’s UK-resident, so it’s liable to UK corporation tax, so it should have completed a corporation-tax return, but it didn’t, so its directors and shareholders have been breaking company law, tax law, and so on.

International Property Laws & The Final Act Of The Drama

The final act of the drama, assuming you’ve stayed out of the house for the whole period of your ownership, is that you eventually sell your company to somebody else who is also non-resident. Do this, and the property does not change hands, because it’s still owned by the company, and you thus avoid stamp duty. Because the new owners are also non-resident, they can also start off cleanly, without incurring any potential tax or legal complications.

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