“It creates a loophole for companies that own property to be sold without change to the Cadastre therefore avoiding paying Sark Property Transfer Tax. This would deny the Sark people of a valuable source of income,” Conseiller Guille said. 

Chief Pleas currently charges transfer tax at a rate of 7.5%, and it's similar in style to stamp duty.  

The matter will be formally raised in Chief Pleas to “put on notice all interested parties and in particular potential purchasers and vendors of companies that own property on Sark that they will be subject to some sort of taxation for the exchange of property”. 

Options are being considered to plug any loss of revenue including an annual tax on Enveloped Dwellings, which is levied on companies which own residential property over a certain value, and making companies legally required to pay the transfer tax. 

But Conseiller Guille said if the latter is pursued it “would include that any approved change in the Law would be with effect from this date to avoid sales of companies owning property on Sark being disposed of before the necessary and lengthy process of the enactment of the Law.  

“It is also realised that the ‘policing’ of such disposals of property by sale of the company could be difficult as there would be no change to the Cadastre.” 

Pictured: Chief Pleas will be notified on April 10.

Sark’s own website says “it is the responsibility of the property owner to ensure that their entry in the Cadastre is up to date.   

“Any property transaction where one person grants or transfers to another the ownership or a long leasehold in any real property situated in Sark will incur Property Transfer Tax.  

“The law does not state which, buyer or seller, is responsible for paying the tax, just that the tax should be paid. The Sark Tax Assessor will determine if a given transaction should incur Property Transfer Tax as well as keeping a record of all such transactions.” 

Sark’s Policy & Finance Committee have been approached for further comment.