New ATED Charge

Newsletter issue - September 2013.

The annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED) came into effect on 1 April 2013. This new tax applies to residential properties in the UK worth over £2 million, which are owned by a non-natural person, such as a company, trust or partnership that includes a company as a member.

The value of the residential property is measured as at 1 April 2012, not the purchase price.

Is your farmhouse owned by a farming partnership, which also has a company as a member? Does your company own properties which are used to house employees?

In both of those circumstances the property is potentially subject to the ATED charge if it is worth £2 million or more. The ATED charge ranges from £15,000 to £140,000 per year, and is payable by 31 October 2013 for 2013/14.

There are many exemptions and reliefs for ATED, including for farmhouses occupied by farmworkers, and for properties occupied by employees who don't individually own more than 10% of the company. However, to claim the relevant exemption, the property owner needs to submit an ATED return to HMRC without delay.

The ATED return can be completed online on the HMRC website, and there is no need to register through the Government gateway. You can also download a paper version of the ATED return from the HMRC website. There is space on the ATED return to appoint us as your tax agent so we can then submit the return on your behalf. Note that the deadline for submitting the ATED return for 2013/14 is 1 October 2013.

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