The First Tier Tribunal has issued it’s decision on whether a property qualified for the principal residence exemption. The Tribunal judges felt that a short occupation period of three months together with the initial intention for to live permanently in the property were somewhat of benefit to the taxpayer. That said, the main facts were that that the property had a single bed and no other furniture, Mr. Yechiel had most of his meals in his parents\u2013 house and did his laundry there as well spending his leisure time in the parents\u2013 house. Based on these factors the Tribunal decided that the property did not qualify as the principal residence and disposal was subject to capital gains tax.<\/p>\n
Our analysis: We have recently been appointed to represent various tax investigation cases where the client claims for a property to be their main residence whereas the quality of residence is not there. Simply by living in a property for a short while before selling it does not normally make it your principal residence for tax purposes. There are a number of factors to consider and as this exemption is widely abused, there are more cases ending up in the Tribunal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"