A Scottish limited partnership (SLP) is a unique vehicle. Although it has been around for over a century, the SLP has been used in recent times for modern business purposes such as private equity and property investment fund structures. This article looks at the advantages of the SLP which make it so attractive to fund managers, promoters and investors, both domestic and overseas.
Advantages of the SLP

The particular advantages of using the SLP are a combination of the following:

Separate legal personality: this is a unique trait of the SLP which is not enjoyed by limited partnerships constituted elsewhere in the UK. It means that the SLP itself can own assets, enter into contracts, sue or be sued, own property, borrow money and grant certain types of security.
Tax transparency: this means that the SLP is taxed as though it did not have a separate legal personality. No tax is payable by the SLP itself. Instead, the UK tax authorities (and other foreign tax jurisdictions) look through the partnership structure and partners are taxed on their share of partnership income and gains arrived at in accordance with their profit-sharing ratios (which can be different from the ratios in which capital has been contributed)