"Phil Norman" wrote in message
...
Hello everyone

This may not be quite what this ng is about, but if anyone can help - or
refer me to a ng that could - I would be very grateful.

Before anyone tells me that a solicitor would sort this out for me, I know
that, but I would some like some idea about the process before I get to
the
stage of employing solicitors, etc.

Essentially I want to sell my house to my daughter for a nominal price -
£35,000 instead of the £150,000 that it's worth. We have various reasons
for
wanting to do this. Mainly I just want to give her the property (it will
be
hers anyway some time in the future), but I need to pay off the existing
mortgage - that's were the £35,000 comes in. Then my wife and I plan to
move
into another property that we have some involvement with, but don't own.

I recommend talking to your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
Some of them do free 1/2 hour solicitors initial interview from volunteer
solicitors.
This should be long enough to establish if you are on dodgy ground.

Selling things at significantly less than their market value is not always
the clever wheeze it seems.
AFAIK it is generally treated as a sale at the current market value and a
gift of the money.

I suspect you may be liable for stamp duty at the current market value of
your house if you sell for an obviously trivial sum.
This would probably be viewed as deliberate tax evasion.

An outright gift may be free of tax (check), but would certainly figure in
any inheritance tax calculation if you (or your partner if the house is in
joint names) don't last the 7 years.

If something sounds like a really great way of avoiding paying tax (and you
aren't a millionaire industrialist) then the chances are someone else has
thought of it before and blocked the loophole. :-(

Cheers
Dave R