CGT on inherited business

[Dirty Stop Out]

I'm not entirely sure i'm in the right forum, but anyway, I have just lost my Dad and I have had to take over the buisness from him, my mother is a partner in the buisness, but thats as far as she goes in running it, i.e. Dad did it all. My question is... is it possible for my mother to make me a partner without incurring massive capital gains bills?
This landlord lark is completely alien to me and I need some serious help getting over this big hurdle of the learning process.
Thanks for any replies.

[MrShed]

What business????? Letting agent? Property ownership/rental??

[Dirty Stop Out]

Yeah sorry...my head's in bits at the moment. I'm renting flats and houses. The properties belong to us.

[MrShed]

Ah ha....sorry about the two hundred question marks, was confused! lol

Who is in ownership of the business now? Your mother solely? I must say, I am unsure about the partnership/tax question, someone may reply to you here, or it may be worth posting in the Tax section in these forums.

With regards to running the business, you could do a lot worse than old posts on these forums :P anything you come across, just do a search, and 95% of queries are on here somwhere or another! I would say it aint that bad, as long as you make sure you are fully aware of tenants rights and stick to them, and familiarise yourself with all of your legal obligations, such as tenants rights, maintaining properties etc. And you legal rights as a landlord.

[Dirty Stop Out]

Well...at the moment, the properties are in the names of my parents, but I presume my dad will have left his half of his estate to my mother. I will post a message in the tax forum shortly. Thanks for the advise!
Just one more thing....if a tennant says that my Dad had some sort of agreement with them, lets say a small reduction in rent for a limited time, and I cant find any record of this agreement in my Dad's paperwork, what do I do regarding disputing this with the tennant?

[MrShed]

Well....hmm. Difficult 1! I would guess that if he had a verbal agreement with your father, you have no commitment to follow it up. However, just for a quiet life, if it is only a small reduction in rent for a short period, I would probably do it....but what is the reason they stated ?

[Dirty Stop Out]

My Dad was a very pleasant man and he tried to make everybodys life as comfortable as possible. The tennant had spent some money on some new flooring in the flat and Dad said that he would reduce the rent for a while to help him out with the payment of this tennants financial outlay. I cant imagine it was a fortune because the room is only about 10 foot square, and laminate flooring isnt that expensive.

[MrShed]

In that case, as I say, I would just let it go. Make sure you have something in writing however, detailing an EXACT period and amount of reduction, some people will take advantage of situations such as your own, unfortunately. So make sure you cover your back in everything you do in the business.

[P.Pilcher]

Mr. Shed's advice is spot on here, however I would suggest that you establish the cost of supplying and fitting laminate flooring in this instance and then check with your tenant what the agreed rental reduction was to make sure it was equal to or less than that figure. Furthermore, make sure, in the nicest possible way, that the tenant understands that the flooring is your (or your mother's) property and therefore cannot be removed should said tenant decide to terminate their tenancy.

It may pay you to get hold of a book or two on the ins and outs of letting property and it's management (see adverts on main site, bookshop or library). There is so much about it on this forum that it may help you to establish the basics from a book which has been logically set out first before reading all the threads here. Best of luck anyway and don't forget that you can always post back here if you need any more help.

With regard to the tax situation, if you have a number of properties, it may help you to engage the services of an accountant. A good one should save you more tax than his fees!

P.P.

[MrWoof]

I'm not entirely sure i'm in the right forum, but anyway, I have just lost my Dad and I have had to take over the buisness from him, my mother is a partner in the buisness, but thats as far as she goes in running it, i.e. Dad did it all. My question is... is it possible for my mother to make me a partner without incurring massive capital gains bills?
This landlord lark is completely alien to me and I need some serious help getting over this big hurdle of the learning process.
Thanks for any replies.Best person to speak to about the tax and business is your accountant. If the property business is completely new to you, unless you have time to search this forum, it might be an idea to appoint an agent, watch and learn until you feel confident enough to go it alone. Its not difficult but having to pick up a business without training, initially, is hard.