»Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp

For the beneficial interest to be transferred:

• the transferor must be the beneficial owner of the property when the document was executed; and
• the beneficial ownership must pass to the transferee and must be transferred by a duly executed document.

Documents which are not relieved by section 42 include the transfer from a body corporate acting in a trustee capacity (e.g. for a pension scheme). A trustee does not have a beneficial interest in the property.

Where a transfer between associated bodies corporate is in conformity with an earlier contract, the beneficial interest will have passed to the purchaser under the contract. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp transfer may still be exempt, however, as it is chargeable on the consideration which was payable under the contract (Escoigne Properties Ltd v IRC [1958] AC 549).

For the purposes of intra-group relief, a company that has entered into an unconditional contract for the sale of property is no longer the beneficial owner of that property (Parway Estates Ltd v IRC [1958] 46 TC 435). A conditional contract may have the same effect if the purchaser can waive the conditions (Wood Preservation Ltd v Prior [1968] 2 All ER 849), or where the vendor has to waive them to sell the property (Brooklands Selangor Holdings Ltd v IRC [1970] 2 All ER 76). »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp cases seem to follow the general principle that once a contract for sale is executed the property is held in equity by the purchaser. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp equitable interest has been held (in Parway, for example) to be equivalent to the beneficial interest. »Ê¹ÚÌåÓýapp situation in Scotland is different, for under Scottish Law beneficial ownership remains with the seller until the sale is completed.