UK Landlord Forum / Life

Hi

I am making my first buy-to-let purchase (finally woo hoo!) and I have a question relating to amounts for fixtures and fittings and capital gains tax.

To seal the deal, I agreed to increase my offer by £2k and the seller agreed to leave certain furniture/fridge etc items behind (this is what the seller wanted). I did this on the basis that I would only have to pay £500 more as my loan is 75% LTV.

The total agreed price is £170k (say) and now the memorandum of sale states a price that is £168k and £2k for fixtures and fittings. Well my mortgage will only cover 75% of £168k so I now have to fund the whole £2k myself. I think the seller's view is that if he makes the sale price £170k he has to pay an additional 18% = £360 capital gains tax on the £2k.

I know its small beer, but I'm really stretched and I can't afford to pay an extra £2,000 so the seller can save £360! I don't care about the additional 1% = £20 stamp duty either.

My question is: does the seller really need to allocate any value to fixtures and fittings in the contract at all. Can an adjustment just be made for some fair value of fixtures and fittings included in the sale when it comes to calculating capital gains tax?

Sorry if this is a really newbie and obvious question - I've asked all my work colleagues (including management accountants) and none could help me.