Land Transaction Tax (LTT) ' New Concessionary Guidance Issued For Share Transfer Purchases In Jersey

• Law Firm: Collas Crill
• Subject Matter: Tax, Property Taxes
• Author: Ms Pamela Doherty, Martin Le Boutillier and Donna Hughes
• Published date: 17 January 2023

The Comptroller of Revenue in Jersey issued an important Guidance Note on 11 January 2023 in relation to the payment of Land Transaction Tax (LTT).

The main points to note are:

At this stage, this guidance only applies to share transfer properties (generally, apartments or parking spaces) where LTT is payable.

Contracted price

Strictly speaking, the law required LTT to be calculated on the higher of the contracted price and the market value of the property in question. This meant for off plan sales where the market value had risen since a purchaser contracted to buy the apartment the LTT should have been based on the current market value, even if that was higher than the price they had contracted to pay.

This new guidance allows for LTT to be paid on the contracted price (even if lower than the current market value) in certain circumstances where :

• The use is for domestic purposes only;
• The pre-sale contract cannot be assigned by the purchaser;
• There are enforceability clauses where a deposit is forfeited and/or liquidated damages are payable if the purchaser does not complete;
• The contracted price was fixed and was at the time the contract was entered into at or above market value; and
• The pre-sale contract was entered into on or after 1 January 2017.

Time to pay

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