PIM1207 - Premiums: lease granted on or after 25 August 1971: term of lease treated as longer than stated
Summary
This page is about circumstances when the length of a lease is to be taken as a period longer than its stated term for the purposes of the charge on premiums etc. It applies to leases granted on or after 25 August 1971 (please also see PIM1206).
This guidance covers two main scenarios in which it may be necessary to treat the length of a lease as longer than the stated term:
- Extensions to a lease in certain circumstances
- Successive leases in certain circumstances
The legislation is in CTA09/S243 and ITTOIA05/S303 onwards.
Extension of the lease
The terms of a lease may include provision for its extension beyond a given date at the option of the tenant. If so, you may take into account any circumstances that make it likely that it will in fact be extended when you consider the length of the lease for the purposes of the treatment of premiums.
Example
On 13 June 2016, Zenab grants a one year lease of a property to Oskar for a premium of £500,000 and a rent of £100, and under the terms of the lease, Oskar has the right to extend the lease for a further 55 years without premium at a rent of £100 a year.
As Oskar is likely to exercise his right to the extension, the duration of the lease is treated as 56 years. In consequence:
- there is no chargeable amount included as property income since the lease is for more than 50 years, and
- Oskar gets no relief for the premium paid.
Successive leases
The lease premiums legislation prevents premium relief being obtained for what is in effect a long lease by granting two shorter leases. One lease for say two years might require a premium to be paid and also entitle the lessee to a second lease for 97 years without payment of a further premium. This device could otherwise be used by lessors who were not effectively taxed on premiums, for example charities. Meanwhile the tenant would obtain relief for the premium paid.
The legislation applies where the tenant or a ‘connected person’ (as defined in ITA07/S993 and CTA10/S1122) is or may be entitled to a further lease, whenever commencing, of the same premises, or of premises including all or part of the same premises. In such a case, you may take the term of the first lease as not expiring before the end of the term of the further lease.
If the two leases run consecutively, or overlap, you may take the duration of the first lease as including the duration of the further lease.
The premium payable for the combined lease may be taken as including any premium payable for the further lease. If the further lease includes other premises, include only a proportionate part of the premium. The premium on the second lease might be payable on the expiry of the first lease. But it is treated under CTA09/S246(5) and ITTOIA05/S306(5) as being a premium for the first lease and is therefore chargeable under the lease premium rules at the time when the lease is first granted.
For information about claims for relief for premiums paid see PIM2420 onwards.
HMRC Submissions
Send a submission to Business Assets and International Directorate (BAI) in any case of doubt or difficulty. For information on how to make a submission to BAI please see here (link is internal to HMRC).
Contact the Valuation Office Agency (VOA) in cases where a valuation is needed of the open market premium for the likely longer period of the lease. For information on how to contact VOA please see here (link is internal to HMRC).