SDLT saving opportunities
If you have bought property, the chances are that you paid Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) – but have you considered whether you have paid the correct amount of tax?
In England and Northern Ireland you’re usually liable to pay SDLT on increasing portions of the acquisition price when you buy property or land costing above a certain amount. Wales and Scotland have their own regimes which, although largely similar to England and Northern Ireland, are different.
SDLT has become much more complex in recent years, especially following the advent of surcharge for second properties and the reliefs available on some transactions. The 2024 Budget increased the surcharge from 3% to 5% overnight.
It has become apparent that a number of clients have overpaid their SDLT liability as they and their conveyancer were unaware of the reliefs that their property purchase qualified for.
SDLT can be at such a high level that many firms are offering schemes to reduce the SDLT payable, or to pay none at all. Most of the time, these schemes are convoluted and involve inserting artificial steps. HMRC have been cracking down on purchasers using such schemes as they simply do not work. When a scheme is proven not to work the buyer will have to pay the shortfall of SDLT to HMRC, plus interest and penalties. In addition, the cost of the scheme will likely have been a hefty proportion of the “saving”, as much as 30% in some cases, and it is unlikely that this will be recoverable from the scheme operator.
At Gepp Solicitors, we do things differently. We don’t involve artificial holding companies or include complex transactions. We adhere to the legislation and, with our expertise, your SDLT bill can be reduced significantly in certain circumstances. As part of the ethos of Gepp Solicitors we do not condone or endorse any tax avoidance schemes, and if clients come to us with details of a scheme that they have been offered we would never recommend that they enter into it. We only advise on legitimate methods that use current legislation to reduce your SDLT liability.
Whilst there are several available SDLT reliefs there are three main reliefs with which we have enabled our clients to make significant SDLT savings or enable repayments to be claimed.
The most common questions arising on SDLT are in relation to:
Each question is described further below.
Contact Marc Dorsett on:
Call: 01245 228146 or
email: dorsettm@gepp.co.uk
Call: 01245 228125 or email: privateclientenq@gepp.co.uk or request a call back.
If you want to find out more about the services we can offer you, please feel free to get in touch.