Britain's finance minister Alistair Darling has closed a loophole in Sharia finance rules that allow commercial property investors to avoid paying stamp duty on more than EUR 1.3 bn of property deals in Britain, the Times reported on Thursday. The changes are part of the minister's 2008 budget plans published on Wednesday.
Britain's finance minister Alistair Darling has closed a loophole in Sharia finance rules that allow commercial property investors to avoid paying stamp duty on more than EUR 1.3 bn of property deals in Britain, the Times reported on Thursday. The changes are part of the minister's 2008 budget plans published on Wednesday.
The government brought in changes to stamp duty three years ago because of fears that people with Sharia-compliant mortgages were paying the tax twice. However, commercial developers are using the change to escape duties all together, the paper said.
Sources told the paper more than a dozen office buildings in London alone were sold using complex Sharia deals last year.
