Review of 2009/10 edition:
This is the latest updated edition of Property Taxes by Robert Maas, which has been in publication for a number of years.
Robert is one of a now rare breed of tax specialists in that he advises on most aspects of taxation rather than the small areas many specialists limit themselves to these days.
He has contributed articles on a wide range of tax matters to a large number of magazines and journals, as well as writing many books on topics ranging from non-resident entertainers to the taxation of employments. I was therefore delighted to be asked to review this book.
As ever with a new book, I first looked through the index of chapters to get a feel for the depth of coverage. I found that there are 23 chapters covering all manner of property related matters, from the taxation of premiums to property development, private residences and council tax.
This appeared to be a comprehensive book from my initial overview, and as I delved into the book I was not disappointed.
For the purposes of this review, I decided to skim the book and to concentrate on a few chapters to give both an overview and a more detailed examination.
My detailed examination covered chapter 13 on private residences and chapter eight on problems of development. A detailed explanation of private residence rules was given including coverage of the various exemptions all backed by case law and Revenue statements.
The sometimes difficult questions of what is a dwelling house and what constitutes residence of a property were discussed. Likewise there was excellent coverage on two or more residences: e.g. the Revenue’s stance on only or main residence elections in such circumstances and how to deal with this on a practical level.
I found the chapter clearly written and offering much in the way of practical advice for the practitioner needing guidance on private residence matters.
Chapter eight's problems of development proved equally absorbing. Again, it is full of relevant case law, with the author deftly guiding the reader through the various tax, commercial and other consideration relevant to property development.
The two tricky areas of VAT and stamp duty land tax were also covered in considerable detail and, although these are not areas of my expertise, Robert had covered them very well.
These chapters made me confident that I would know the questions to ask of specialists and risk areas that would need consideration.
I had not previously seen this book, or an earlier version, but Robert’s in-depth coverage and writing style puts this a book on my recommendation list for any practitioner who is faced with property tax issues.
The structuring of tax in respect of property matters is a difficult area of taxation, but this book deals with these complexities by a thorough examination of the subject matter and, indeed, excellent guidance from the author on application in practice.
Penny Bates is the director of Aurora Tax Services Ltd
Taxation Magazine, 2010