oh dear: Buy-to-let investors to challenge tax hike in court

[DimPrawn]

Then I'm against it. Anything that lines those creatures pockets with more cash....

[AtW]

Cherie Bliar firm will be involved, so this means Human Rights Act

[DimPrawn]

Although anything or anyone that challenges Osborne and the Tory scum, gets my support.

[AtW]

One good comment to the article -

"So some of the opponents are running businesses which charge people for learning how to make money from buy-to-let? The new rules were introduced to reduce the possibility of a housing bubble/crash."

Those get-rich-quick-next-lose-money-on-property seminars might be taking a hit for sure now

I can't see any legal resource whatsoever - removal of tax reliefs and taxation in general is prerogative of Govt (as in the Parliament that votes those in). What courts can do? They are lucky he phased removal gradually over pretty long period.

[DimPrawn]

It's not a business if people use their personal CGT allowance and the property is owned by a person or persons.

Lawyers will make a killing dragging this one out through every court in the land. Good luck to them.

[AtW]

Wealthy property investors are mounting a legal challenge to the Government's proposals to increase tax on buy-to-let investments. (AtW's comment: they are not very wealthy if they had to borrow money...)

They hope a judicial review will overturn the controversial "Clause 24" of the 2015 Finance Bill, in which the Government introduced plans to prevent landlords offsetting mortgage interest costs against rental profits before calculating tax.

These tax changes, which will apply to existing investment properties as well as future purchases, will result in some buy-to-let investors paying tax even where they generate no profit or are loss-making.

In this case the judicial review – a legal process in which a court reviews legislation or administrative decisions – needs to be submitted by February 17, 2016.

The challenge is being led by millionaire private landlords Steve Bolton and Mark Alexander.

Mr Bolton, who owns about 20 residential and commercial properties, is also the founder and owner of Platinum Property, a buy-to-let training franchise whose members' portfolios are worth a total £200m.

Mark Alexander is founder of online buy-to-let forum Property118.

The third figure involved in the action is Chris Cooper, a modest investor and part-time landlord who - like hundreds of thousands of others - is using buy-to-let as part of his pension.

In an ironic twist law firm Omnia Strategy, founded and chaired by Cherie Blair QC, the wife of Tony Blair, has been appointed to represent landlords' interests.

Landlords will argue that the Tory's tax move flouts "a long-established principle of taxation that expenses incurred wholly and exclusively for the purposes of the business are deductible when calculating the taxable profits". (AtW's comment: if it was a business they'd use Ltds ...)

Although buy-to-let investors have met with little support from any political party, their objections to the tax changes are widely supported by the accounting and legal professions.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) has attacked the removal of mortgage interest relief as "unreasonable, unworkable and unthought through".

It has pointed out that those worst-hit will be small property investors, including middle-class savers adding one or two buy-to-let properties to their pensions and other portfolios.

More from the source: Buy-to-let investors to challenge tax hike in court - Telegraph


First they came for the Borrow-To-Let "wealthy" investors...