The body which represents investment trusts, the Association of Investment Companies or AIC, has called for the removal of stamp duty on purchases of shares in investment trusts, REITs (real estate investment trusts) and VCTs.
As part of the Treasury’s consultation on the way funds are regulated and taxed, the AIC is making the argument that there is ‘no policy rationale’ for the difference between trusts and open-ended funds which in most cases are exempt from stamp duty.
While the AIC is acting in the interests of its members here, the removal of stamp duty would clearly benefit individual investors too.
‘DOUBLE TAXATION’
AIC chief executive Ian Sayers said: ‘Investment trusts, investment company REITs and VCTs already pay stamp duty, SDRT (stamp duty reserve tax) or stamp duty land tax when they purchase their underlying investments. Levying stamp duty again when investors buy their shares leads to double taxation.
‘UK policy has traditionally ensured a neutral tax position for the end investor, so that an investor in a collective fund will be in a similar tax position as if they had invested in the fund’s underlying assets directly.
‘Removing stamp duty on purchases of investment trusts, investment company REITs and VCTs will create a fair tax position for investors and maximise competition in the public interest.’
