What is SDLT?
Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) replaced the more commonly know ‘Stamp Duty’ in 2003.
You must pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) if you buy a property or land over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland.
We collaborate with individual clients, Estate Agents and Financial Advisors nationwide to ensure homebuyers are paying the correct amount of SDLT on their property purchases.
If you think that you may have overpaid, or are about to overpay SDLT, we would be delighted to assist you.
How can SDLT Relief help you?
The reality is that SDLT is a tax, and like any other tax you are required to pay, it really requires a tax specialist to ensure an accurate calculation and payments are made.
Features and characteristics of your property, such as outbuildings, woodland, stables and annexes all go towards determining the level of SDLT liability and can reduce your tax bill considerably. We work with one of the UK’s leading experts in property tax, so that you can get comfortable knowing that the guidance provided is second to none.
Why are homebuyers overpaying SDLT?
Very simply, Stamp Duty Land Tax is complex, ever-shifting and subject to more alterations since inception in 2003 than any other comparable tax. The governing legislation is now full of exceptions, exemptions and reliefs covering the vast variety of property types and property buyers.
However, not all of these are obvious to conveyancers who lack the relevant expertise to analyze and accurately clarify where SDLT relief may be applicable. This is due to lack of guidance and clarity from HMRC and conflicting messages from their regulator, the SRA.
The result of this vital missing calculation in the property purchase process means that people buying property with land, outbuildings, woodland or annexes, for example, may find themselves paying a higher SDLT bill on their purchase than they should.
Tax Changes
HMRC Calculator
Solicitors Unsupported
Legislation governing SDLT has been subject to multiple alterations, most recently in July 2016. It's full of exceptions, exemptions and reliefs covering the vast variety of property, and very few of these are made clear to property professionals, let alone the general public.
There are serious shortcomings in the HMRC SDLT tax calculator, which is not designed with the various nuances of the property tax system beyond the very basics in mind. Yet the buyers and their solicitors frequently rely on it. HMRC themselves have recently admitted it is there to serve as a 'mere guide’.
Solicitors, lawyers and agents are not tax specialists, and yet are liable in cases where they have made incorrect assumptions regarding a property which leads to incorrect payments being made.
Is this legal?
This is easily the most common question we hear from our clients and the one with the simplest answer. You can rest at ease that if you have already, or are about to overpay on your SDLT, then you are 100% within your right to verify your payment has been calculated correctly according to the law and we will help you to complete this.
To put your mind at rest, if there is refund available to you; the payment will come directly from the HMRC.
£2 billion in tax could be owed to people because of inaccuracies in HMRC’s calculator
900 cases of overpayments are being dealt with each month
£13 billion earned in stamp duty tax revenue by the treasury, doubling in the last 5 years
What do our clients say?
Please see below some impartial comments from some of our clients.
Do you qualify?
If your Purchase price is, or was more than £1,000,0000 or contains woodland, outbuildings or annexes in its grounds for example, then there is a possibility you have overpaid SDLT.
Some of the more common features that can result in reduced Stamp duty, include:
If your property contains one or more of these features, then you may have overpaid your Stamp Duty.
If you are about to purchase or have purchased in the past 4 years, use the form below to understand if there are savings available to you.
Fill in your details and we'll be in touch asap.
Check for relief on your property
Outbuildings
Annex
Land
Woodlands
Commercial Property
Does your Land have barns or other outbuildings that were part of your purchase?
You could qualify for ‘mixed use’ SDLT rates and potentially save thousands
In the News
You may have read in the papers that Stamp Duty Land Tax overpayments are alarmingly frequent. The reasons for this include:
“Homebuyers may be owed up to £2 billion in tax because the government's online calculator is getting its sums wrong. The tool, provided by HMRC, fails to factor in stamp duty discounts worth thousands of pounds."
The Times - 31st March 2018
“The software on the HMRC website reportedly does not take account of factors such as farmland or a 'granny annex' which can lead to discounts in stamp duty. The problem has arisen because the calculator does not distinguish between homes and mixed-used properties." “Stamp duty is a major source of income for the Treasury and brought in £13billion last year, a massive 95 per cent more than five years ago.”
The Times - 31st March 2018
“Solicitors complained they frequently used the calculator because the taxman was treating them like accountants, relying on expertise they did not have. They write to HMRC for guidance but we're finding a long turnaround time, often 28 days."
The Times - 31st March 2018
Frequently Asked Questions
Please have a look at our most frequently asked questions.
If you can't find the answers you're looking for then please contact one of our tax advisers by phone 0800 001 6777 or email [email protected].
Contact Us
We collaborate with individual clients, Estate Agents and Financial Advisors nationwide to ensure homebuyers are paying the correct amount of SDLT on their property purchases.
If you are in the process of purchasing a property or if you have previously purchased a property and would like to know if you should legally be due relief on SDLT, please fill in the form below and we would be delighted to assist. Once we have your contact details, we will be in touch to discuss a simple, discreet and no obligation check to see if you are able to claim relief.
Quite simply, you have nothing to lose.
Alternatively, if you would like to call us directly first, we will be glad to hear from you
T : 0800 001 6777
Thank you. We look forward to speaking with you soon.
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