Finance Act 2003

8 (1) Where the chargeable consideration for a land transaction consists in whole or in part of— U.K.

(a) the satisfaction or release of debt due to the purchaser or owed by the vendor, or

(b) the assumption of existing debt by the purchaser,

the amount of debt satisfied, released or assumed shall be taken to be the whole or, as the case may be, part of the chargeable consideration for the transaction.

(2) If the effect of sub-paragraph (1) would be that the amount of the chargeable consideration for the transaction exceeded the market value of the subject-matter of the transaction, the amount of the chargeable consideration is treated as limited to that value.

(3) In this paragraph—

(a) “debt” means an obligation, whether certain or contingent, to pay a sum of money either immediately or at a future date,

(b) “existing debt”, in relation to a transaction, means debt created or arising before the effective date of, and otherwise than in connection with, the transaction, and

(c) references to the amount of a debt are to the principal amount payable or, as the case may be, the total of the principal amounts payable, together with the amount of any interest that has accrued due on or before the effective date of the transaction.