Avoiding Stamp Duty

richr74

clutton wrote: »

richr - i think this says it all about you ""finding out 2 days ago that i have to pay stamp duty on top of all the other fees""

if YOU had devoted any of your own time to research house buying - you would have known this a heck of a long time ago... you could have asked your solicitor months ago.. you could have read the threads on here about house buying... you could have asked your estate agent or your solicitor.

Considering that you are about to spend the BIGGEST sum of money you will ever spend in your life, you need to take your own responsibility for this a lot more seriously...


In the whole buying houses process in England there is a legal convention called "caveat emptor" - it is a latin legal phrase (which you may want to google) but which basically means that you, the buyer, are fully responsible for all research when buying a property, it is not up to the vendor, or the estate agent, or even your solicitor to do this.... it is up to you....

i find it astonishing that you have only discovered Stamp Duty sooo late in the day...

i dont take offence at all when folks dont like what i post, as i do tend to be somewhat blunt... but if my bluntness makes you think then that is good...

the moral of all this is that if you are embarking on a new venture, of whatever sort, research for yourself....

As a relative newbie to MSE, what you dont know is if ANYONE on this forum knows what they are talking about (*) - had you taken some time to do some of your own reading and research, you would begin to form a view as to whose words, on what subject, you trusted..


Threads do seem to go off at tangents now and again... that is the nature of public forums... you will like some answers and not others, other posters will et into discussions that you feel are not relevant... bit like sitting in the pub really.....

best wishes with the purchase


i recall trying to do exactly what you are trying to do now (avoid paying Stamp Duty) when i bought my first property in 1979 - i got short shrift too .....


p.s. having said all that.. i do admire your articulate, swear-free, good-natured and persistent, well-communicated tenacity in holding your corner here in MSE - well done..

p,p.s. i am a woman !

Id like to start off and say Thank You, and i generally mean that, you have took the time to write this and you seem to have put a lot of thought into it.

I also think maybe people have missunderstood me or shall i say the position i am in regarding buying a house, the point i am at is basically ive seen a house i like (from the advert) and havent even viewed it yet or put an offer in etc... I am viewing it next saturday, it is my 4th time viewing a house but if it is what i expect it to be i think it is the one. I hadnt heard of stamp duty at all mainly because im 22 and probably have a lot less insight in house buying then 90% of people on here and secondly because i know a couple of people who brought houses in the later part of last year and when asking what fees they paid they did not mention this at all (this i now know is because it was lifted to the 175k bracket and their houses were a lot less as they were also first time buyers). It was only when i found out about this i then researched and went on the hmrc, read up about it and when i saw the 125k threshold it led me to this thread as the house im trying to purchase is only a bit above that and if i could avoid paying it then great. Also im that much of a newbie to house buying that i only started looking for a house 4-5 months ago and i dont have a solicitor yet and i didnt think there was any need until i found a house i liked.

Thanks Again

VIGILANT22

princessamy86 wrote: »

i'm fairly sure it is. You don't incur stamp duty at £125,000.00 but you do at £125,000.01 i'm sure that's what missmotivation meant-typos can happen!

1% £125001.00 - £250,000
3% £250,001.00- £500,000.00
4% £500,001.00+

clutton_2

if you really like the house, take account of the extra fees (SDLT) and buy it - if it is worth the money...

whats the saying .. there are only 3 things guaranteed in life

we are born
we pay taxes
we die

James_Trimby

HI as you will see from other threads there are some legal techniques for reducing stamp duty however they do not work on the 1% band as the extra legal costs etc exceed the savings. The only way at the lower end is to offer under the stamp duty threshold. As mentioned by other posters the paying for fixtures and fittings is very well monitored and (as your solicitors can also get into trouble) you will have problems getting anything through which is not absolutely correct (for instance a shed is an unusual thing to remove and if mentioned in the estate agent details would be a difficult thing to argue you are buying seperately and anyway must be at second hand value). I know it seems like a waste of money but it is part of the cost of buying a house SORRY!

SunnySusie

Evasion versus avoidance. One is illegal, the other is just good Money Saving practise. In this case the "loop hole" has been closed if you are doing it just to get under the threshold. The price paid for additions has to be reasonable. As said above, you may be asked to show how you got to the figure in question. So claiming a rickety £200 shed was bought for £20k will not work! However...

When we got the fixture and fittings list the vendor stated that certain items were available for purchase on top of the initial price. We took them up on some of these items so eventually paid above the threshold. Everything was formally declared and sent off to the nice people at HMRC.

The good thing about buying a house is that its the one transaction where you will always have a legal advisor - SO USE THEM! That's what you pay them for. Rather than post on a forum, ask your solicitor. Ours said it would be fine, and you know what. He was right!

The last place I bought was exactly the threshold (Im embarrassed to say which !). FYI it does not have to be a "penny under", it can be exactly the threshold which is advisable for psychological reasons.

Best of luck with the purchase, Id follow the above advise and go for the big discount. We got ours down 20% to get under the threshold!

LandyAndy

clutton wrote: »

p,p.s. i am a woman !

:rotfl::rotfl:

That's the second time in a week I've found that out about someone on this board.

martindow

LandyAndy wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl:

That's the second time in a week I've found that out about someone on this board.

Being a woman is not that unusual! I assume you're a man unless you are Handy Andrea?