The Government has announced further plans to tackle what it sees as aggressive Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) planning, as part of its continued effort to reduce tax avoidance in UK. The draft Finance Bill outlines two changes to the current regime that are designed to increase HMRCs awareness of SDLT avoidance schemes and of those using them.

Commenting on the announcement, Mike Dalton, Tax Director at Grant Thornton said: "The current government has placed a real emphasis on stamping out aggressive tax avoidance. This clampdown on SDLT planning is all about HMRC gaining more information about usage of avoidance schemes.

“This will assist in challenging schemes which HMRC believe do not currently work. The true impact of this legislation will be better known when the results of some of the current court cases regarding SDLT avoidance have been decided."