What counts as a major interest for Land Transaction Tax?
Major interests and LTT
A major interest is normally a freehold or leasehold interest. For LTT higher-rates rules, certain trust share transfers are treated in the same way.
- Trust documents may matter as much as the title register.
- A transfer of part of a beneficial share can be relevant.
- The ownership position before and after completion is central.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
What counts as a major interest for Land Transaction Tax?
For Land Transaction Tax (LTT), Wales’s form of stamp duty, a major interest usually means a freehold or leasehold interest, even where a trust separates legal title from beneficial rights. Trusts can make the answer less obvious. The higher LTT rates rules use that label.
What this rule is about
Land tax considers what you are buying or selling, rather than simply the name a document gives it. A freehold gives lasting ownership. A leasehold gives rights for a set period.
Both can be major interests. The law says this applies whether the right exists in law or in equity, including certain rights held through a trust.
What the official source says
Section 68 defines a major interest as either a freehold or a leasehold term of years absolute. When applying the LTT higher-rates rules, Schedule 5 addresses certain changes in beneficial ownership under trusts, including the position on each side of the transaction. Timing matters.
- A freehold estate is a major interest.
- A leasehold term of years absolute is also a major interest.
- Either type of interest can be held in law or in equity.
- A transfer may cover all or only part of a beneficiary’s interest in a home held on a bare trust, rather than the whole interest in that home. That can matter.
- Immediately before the transaction, the legislation treats the beneficiary as holding the major interest.
- Immediately after it, the legislation treats the buyer as holding that major interest.
What this means in practice
Put simply, where someone holds only a beneficial share in a home and does not appear as the legal owner on the title, a trust does not necessarily put the home outside the higher-rates rules. That share can count. For those rules, it can still be a major interest.
This does not by itself decide whether higher LTT rates apply. Instead, the rules test the transaction as one involving a major interest in a home.
- Check the legal title, but do not stop there.
- Read the trust documents to find who has the beneficial rights.
- Track the position just before and just after completion.
How to analyse it
Start with the type of property right. Then examine the trust arrangement. The timing point is important: the statutory test compares the position immediately before and immediately after the transaction.
- Is the interest a freehold or qualifying leasehold?
- Is the home held through a bare trust or a settlement?
- Is someone transferring all or part of their beneficial interest?
- Who does the legislation treat as holding the major interest before completion?
- Who does it treat as holding it after completion?
Example
Illustration: Ravi holds a 50% beneficial share in a freehold home through a bare trust. He transfers that share to Nia. If Schedule 5 treats Ravi as holding the freehold before completion and Nia as holding it after completion, it treats the transaction as involving a major interest for the higher-rates rules. The trustee’s legal title does not change that treatment.
Why this can be difficult in practice
Trust paperwork and title records often reveal different parts of the story, because a Land Registry entry may identify the trustee while trust documents identify the people who benefit from the home. That can hide a share transfer.
What people call an arrangement is not decisive. The terms of the trust and the rights it gives each person matter.
- Different people may hold legal ownership and beneficial ownership.
- A transfer of a share can matter, not only a sale of the whole home.
- The trust type and the rights under it can change the answer.
- Documents must support the before-and-after position.
Key takeaways
- A major interest usually means a freehold or leasehold.
- Trust-held shares can count for LTT higher-rates rules.
- Check who the legislation treats as owning the interest at each side of completion.
Technical analysis
For advisers, and for anyone who wants to check the law behind this page. You do not need this section to understand the guidance above.
Legislation
- LTTA 2017 section 68 — what counts as a major interest in land
- LTTA 2017 Schedule 5 para 28 — when trust beneficiaries count as holding a home
- LTTA 2017 Schedule 5 para 29 — trust interest transfers treated as major interests
- LTTA 2017 Schedule 8 para 3 — how bare trust transactions are treated
Official guidance
The pages below are the Welsh Revenue Authority’s guidance. Guidance is not law. It sets out how the Welsh Revenue Authority reads the legislation, and it is not binding on you, on a tribunal or on a court. Where guidance and the legislation differ, the legislation wins. the Welsh Revenue Authority can also change or withdraw guidance, and it may not cover your facts.
Where this is not settled
- Whether a particular arrangement is a bare trust, or a settlement, depends on its terms and the facts.
- It may be unclear from a title record alone who is treated as holding the interest for the higher-rates rules.
Evidence you would need
This kind of case is decided on the facts of the individual property. These are the records that usually settle it, and the ones an adviser would ask you for.
- The Land Registry title and any lease
- The trust deed or declaration of trust
- Documents showing the share being transferred
- Documents showing who held the interest before and after completion
Explore this with an AI
Readers often want to test their own situation. Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It hands the model the actual legislation for this page rather than letting it answer from memory, and tells it to be explicit about what is uncertain. What comes back is information, not advice – check it against the links above.
I am researching Land Transaction Tax (LTT), the tax on property in Wales. It replaced Stamp Duty Land Tax in Wales on 1 April 2018, and SDLT does not apply in Wales. MY QUESTION What counts as a major interest for Land Transaction Tax? [Replace this with your own situation: what you are buying, the price, the dates, who the buyer is, and what you plan to do with the property.] THE LAW THIS TURNS ON - LTTA 2017 section 68 - what counts as a major interest in land https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/68 - LTTA 2017 Schedule 5 para 28 - when trust beneficiaries count as holding a home https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/5/paragraph/28 - LTTA 2017 Schedule 5 para 29 - trust interest transfers treated as major interests https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/5/paragraph/29 - LTTA 2017 Schedule 8 para 3 - how bare trust transactions are treated https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/8/paragraph/3 Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/land-transaction-tax-interpretation-provisions-technical-guidance#6410 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. Guidance from the Welsh Revenue Authority is its view of the law, not the law, and does not bind a tribunal or a court. 2. Tell me what the rule actually requires, in plain English. 3. Tell me which facts decide the answer, and which facts would change it. 4. Tell me what evidence I would need to support the position. 5. Be explicit about anything unsettled or fact-sensitive. Do not guess. 6. Your training data has a cutoff and SDLT rates and reliefs change at fiscal events. Say so if you are not sure the law is current. POINTS ALREADY KNOWN TO BE UNCERTAIN ON THIS TOPIC - Whether a particular arrangement is a bare trust, or a settlement, depends on its terms and the facts. - It may be unclear from a title record alone who is treated as holding the interest for the higher-rates rules. Do not give me a conclusion you cannot support from the provisions above.
Legislation links show the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 as it stood on 2025-11-17. The law may have changed since, and the rules that apply are those in force on the date of your transaction. The official guidance this page is based on is here.
This page was last updated on 3 September 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: What counts as a major interest for Land Transaction Tax?
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