My client is the parent company of two wholly-owned subsidiaries. The first subsidiary is trading. Its trading premises are held in the second (SubCo 2). Significant trade growth has meant a need to acquire larger premises. After months of searching suitable premises could not be found and it was decided as a short-term measure to sell the premises and rent larger premises while the search continues. The cash from the sale has been placed in an interest bearing account held by SubCo 2. The main shareholder has now become very ill and this has raised a concern over the availability of business property relief (BPR) in relation to his shares if he dies – particularly as SubCo 2 now holds a very large cash deposit.
Cash held...