The commercial property market could face a rush to offload property by non-domiciled investors who face a tax bill if they delay sales until changes to capital gains have taken place in April.
The Treasury is drawing up far-reaching legislation to force an elite of wealthy foreigners living in Britain to pay billions of pounds in the tax on UK-based assets.
The Chartered Institute of Taxation said the market could well be tipped into a significant downturn. A drift of non-domicilaries over the next few years out of the UK would have a big impact on the prime London residential property market, too.
26/11/07 Financial Times 1, 3, 13, 21
