Brits using sharia law to pose as Muslims to avoid paying stamp duty
March 21st, 2011 - 4:44 pm ICT by ANILondon, Mar. 21 (ANI): House buyers in the United Kingdom are reportedly using Sharia law to pose as Muslims to dodge stamp duty.
According to the Daily Express, a scheme, brought in by Labour in 2005, allows followers of Islam to buy property without paying the tax.
Paying interest is banned under Sharia law, so Muslims are allowed to buy a house and then sell it on to an offshore financial company.
They then lease the house from the company instead of taking out a mortgage, which would include interest payments.
Stamp duty, which is applicable to all properties worth 125,000 pounds and over, does not have to be paid on properties which are immediately sold on.
But some who pretend to be Muslim are now using the loophole, which costs the Treasury 40-million-pounds-a-year. (ANI)
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Tags: daily express, dodge, followers of islam, interest payments, labour, london, loophole, mortgage, muslim, muslims, stamp duty, treasury, united kingdom