If a family trust is set up to buy a residential property in Plymouth under £30,000 to provide a lifetime interest for a son and then to pass to a grandson (now aged ten) does the trust avoid paying stamp duty land tax (SDLT)? This would be the trust`s first and only property purchase.

Arthur Weller replies:
See HMRC’s Stamp Duty Land Tax manual at www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm09835: 'On a purchase by a trustee of a trust for life or income interests, whether the higher rates apply is determined as if any beneficiaries with the interests above were the purchaser or purchasers and the trustee was not the purchaser.' You have not explained the position of the son who has the life interest. But because the value of the purchase is under £40,000, there is no SDLT to pay. See HMRC’s guidance at SDLTM09745.