SDLT 1 Form

owen1978

The Solicitor is charging me £50 - basically to fill out the form
Is there anyway round it? could i do it myself?

Thanks

m_13

We paid £25 plus VAT so £50 does seem steep. I think your conveyancer has to fill it in as your agent and pay across any stamp duty.

Is there any stamp duty due?

Debt_Free_Chick

Have you seen it?

I wouldn't fill one in for £50 - nor to save £50

But perhaps I'm a wuss?

owen1978

No Stamp Duty - property is valued at 85k

WillowCat

Debt_Free_Chick wrote: »

Have you seen it?

I wouldn't fill one in for £50 - nor to save £50

But perhaps I'm a wuss?

It's not that bad.

It looks a little scary to a layman, but conveyancers/solicitors are filling them in all the time - most transactions will be using the same codes on the forms time after time.

I expect my conveyancer to fill in the form for me, and I don't expect to pay extra either - but then I'm not going for the cheapest online deal.

Richard_Webster

The time and expertise involved in filling in the wretched form is probably worth at least £50. Whether it should be charged as a separate item is another matter!

I don't make this charge because I believe that it is essentially part of the conveyancing process and completion of it is included in my fee. Solicitors can produce a legal justification for charging a separate fee, but in my mind it sounds ever so legalistic to the average lay person, and just sounds like a scam to recover money "lost" by quoting a low basic fee for conveyancing.

Some of the "on-line" firms will attempt to justify it as an optional fee on the basis that the duty to complete the form is actually that of the buyer, and the solicitor does not have to complete it, but will do so as an extra service. This may be true for cash buyers who could be given the form after completion and told to send it off to the data capture centre in Netherton with a cheque for the SDLT (if applicable) and when the receipt (SDLT5 form) comes back the solicitor will be able to register the title. A lot of lay people will get confused dealing with the form. I'm sure all of you out there know the four digit numerical code for your local authority, don't you? (OK, I guess people like Doozergirl have enough savvy to find the information, but a lot of people don't...)

So even with a cash purchase the solicitor will probably end up having to correct errors and charge the fee.

When there is a mortgage the form must be completed correctly as otherwise the transfer to the buyer doesn't get registered at the Land Registry and the mortgage lender's security is not protected. The solicitor has a duty to see this happens, so he must complete the form himself and get a draft of it signed by the buyer before completion to authorise him to submit it to HMRC following completion. Most submissions are now done on-line and the certificate comes back within a minute or so.

For all these reasons I think it is so much part of a conveyancing transaction that it is more appropriate to include its completion and submission in an overall charge, rather than as a separate item.

moggerz

fair enough Richard - but if your lawyer is charging 87quid for the pleasure - would you recommend one filling it out? I have looked at the form 1 and 2 and it doesnt seem too bad apart from a few codes etc ...but I am guessing should be easy enough to get from either google or the guidance forms.

I hear that you can fill this out online now but I cant see how an individual can register. I will give them a call tomorrow morning to check this out. I can also get the forms from HMRC - but some of the information I suppose I will need from my lawyers ...will they give it to me is the question....i wonder.

anyway.

cheers

gemstars

I agree that this is too complicated to expect the buyer to fill it out.

Following on from my previous thread about my form I have written to my solicitor and stated that I believe they should fill it out for me and not charge extra.

I'll let you know what happens....

moggerz

Just called HMRC - they said that for a one off form it is not worth registering online - you need special software etc (which they have). They will answer any questions that you have and will take you through if the guidance isnt enough. quote from them "with the guidance it is straightforward enough as long as it is a 'normal' purchase" (quite what normal is is anyone's guess but i think i fall into that category).

will let you know how i progress.

incidentally .....who needs to know the outcome of the stamp duty stuff?i mean its not like the deed or anything ...its just a tax (pretty hefty one at that) right?

bw
m

PS Gemstars: where is ur thread?

gemstars

Here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1802159

and here
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1800653

cattie

When I bought my house 18 months ago, my solicitor didn't charge for completing the form, which made his fee's more competitive than other quotes I'd had.

I'd used the solicitor for a previous sale/purchase, so knew he was quite on the ball & accessable, so no worries about a 2nd class service with him.