The appellant's activity and motivations in relation to the development of an office property were investment and not trading in nature.
The appellant company was formed to hold a property development group’s 50% beneficial interest in the development of an office property. The other 50% interest was held by a company in an independent group. The construction was completed in September 2003. The property was substantially let by September 2004, and fully let by May 2005. It was sold by July 2005.
The issue was whether the appellant's activity and motivations in relation to the property development were of a trading or investment nature. The First-tier Tribunal (FTT) had difficulty in reaching its decision, and commented that the outcome was finely balanced.
The FTT presumed that a property developer will often hold development sites as trading stock, and that this would not be the analysis solely
