TAX BENEFITS

PUT YOUR LAND IN A SIPP
(SELF INVESTED PERSONAL PENSION)

Land purchases qualify for Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs) and all the associated tax benefits for UK tax payers.

SIPPs are a flexible way of saving for your retirement if you are a UK tax payer. The scheme member has the power to decide when, where and how the assets of their pension fund are invested. Although they've been around since 1989, it wasn't until certain changes were made in April 2006 ('A Day') that they became more accessible to more people and now everything from individual shares and company bonds to cash and commercial property can be held in a SIPP.

The tax advantages are very appealing with contributions to SIPPs treated identically to contributions to personal pensions. Individual contributions automatically receive basic rate tax relief whilst higher rate taxpayers can claim additional relief through their tax returns and there is no capital gains tax on growth.

With pre-development land qualifying as 'commercial' property, £20,000 of land held in a SIPP could cost you as little as £12,000 thanks to tax relief.

As from 1 October 2008 6 million people with protected pension rights pension funds averaging £16,500 can move their money into a self-invested personal pension. If you are interested in finding out more, click here to read the article.