Rising property costs may be hitting some law firms, thanks to the introduction of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) as part of the Finance Act of 2004. While it is well known that SDLT will affect acquisitions of interests in land or property by a firm, it is less well-known that transfers of interests between partners will also be caught.
Such transfers are very common in the legal profession and typically occur when new partners join a practice or others leave. It seems that firms with high-value property and a small number of partners could be most at risk from the SDLT rules.
