Changing a Sole Prop to a (Pty) Ltd

[Incentive]

Thank you everyone. Greig has hit the nail on the head regarding the reason behind my question: Its for grant application. To qualify for the DTI's grants for manufacturers, the company must have some assets in its books.

So the best course would be:

Register the new PTY (LTD), move the manufacturing and other required assets from the sole prop to the new company whilst retaining the property the business is operating from, in the name of the sole prop. The Company can then rent the property from the original owner. As long as the rental amount is market related, the DTI won't have a problem with this. And this will remove costs involved with transfer duties and possibly capital gains tax.