Key points
- In multiple dwellings relief cases the taxpayer often argues that the barest of facilities constitute a dwelling.
- A dwelling is a building or part of a building which must accommodate all of a person’s basic domestic living needs.
- The tribunals have ruled that for multiple dwellings relief a kitchen must contain adequate facilities to prepare food.
- However the Upper Tribunal has ruled that an empty kitchen does not necessarily mean the property is not residential.
Stamp duty land tax is in the spotlight and HMRC has had considerable success in the courts when challenging the classification of subsidiary dwellings for the purposes of multiple dwellings relief (MDR).
The key component argued within most MDR cases is whether the facilities in particular converted buildings and annexes are sufficient for someone to occupy them as a dwelling in their own right.
HMRC’s manuals...