Mark McLaughlin looks at when a property might be considered to be held on a constructive trust.
The distinction between legal and beneficial ownership of land and buildings (e.g., rental property) is important when it comes to identifying which individual is liable to tax on rental income, or capital gains tax (CGT) on any chargeable gain from a property disposal.
This is because CGT on property gains, and income tax on rental income, is determined by beneficial ownership, rather than legal ownership (NB this article considers the law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland).
Whilst the same person will normally be the legal and beneficial owner of the property, this will not necessarily be the case.
Prove it!
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will generally assume that the legal and beneficial owners are identical, unless there is evidence to
