Stamp Duty - Mitigation

mr.inquisitive_2

There are a number of firms who offer a service whereby you can avoid paying the full stamp duty (or basically pay less somehow).

Certain criteria have to be met e.g. buy in joint names, buy over £500k, etc.

However they all claim there is a loop-hole in the current rules which enables them to make you a saving. You end up paying about half (e.g. on a £750k property, instead of paying £30k, you pay about £15k).

They also claim that the authorities have a window of opportunity to check your file and claim the balance, but in most cases they do not.
If they do, you pay the balance, possibly with interest at a modest rate, plus you lose out on the fees you have paid for this service (a few grand).
If they don't, you saved yourself around half of the cost of stamp duty.

This is roughly what happens. How it works is explained on several websites in more detail.

Does anyone here have ANY ACTUAL EXPERIENCE with this?
I'm keen to know if there are any success stories or failures, and what happened in detail.

Thanks

johnc1983

Hello,

What you have said is pretty much correct. There is a risk if you go with a service that isn't very experienced or reputable. A couple of my friends have done this and had no problems what so ever. I am currently considering a service I found called StampDutySolutions.co.uk. However, there are couple of others, such as avoidstampduty.com which I came across as well. These companies do turn away riskier cases as they assess risk for them and for the client.

I cant really say much more than that, it is probably best to speak to one of the two above companies.

Mikeyorks

The last thread you dredged up to spam this on was 3 years old ..... at least you're getting more timeous.

Reported as spam.

James_Trimby

HI not to be out spammed!! There are other produces out there that do not charge any fee if scheme fails and can go as low as £250,001 on purchase price. Sold through firms of accountants linked to the PROBIZ network. They will advertise with names/addresses and telephone numbers unlike the site mentioned above. I'm always wary of a site that does not admit where and/or who they are!