Finance Act 2017

The 2017 Finance Bill received Royal Assent on 27 April 2017.

Because of the Government’s decision to call a general election, there was limited time for Parliament to debate the Finance Bill, and as a consequence large parts of what was the longest Finance Bill ever published were dropped.

Among the provisions which did not survive the cull were the long awaited changes to the taxation of Non Doms and associated provisions which include the taxation of UK residential properties owned through offshore corporates.

It remains to be seen how much of the proposed legislation will be re-introduced once a new government is elected, and more importantly what the effective dates of the legislation will be.

For now, we would suggest that those who were considering de-enveloping properties from offshore corporates but who were unable to do so before 5 April should continue to finalise these transfers.

However those hoping to be able to reorganise offshore bank accounts, or to sell offshore assets taking advantage of the re-basing provisions should, where possible, defer any actions until further guidance is issued by the Government.