Stamp Duty Calculator and Q&A discussion 31 March 2010 at 10:12AM edited 31 March 2010 at 12:06PM in House buying, renting & selling 139 replies 110K views

Tobyagoode

I recently sold my principal residence in which my girl freind (partner) also resided.
She had rented out her own house for the last 3 years.
We jointly and equally purchased a new home and it was thought necessary to pay the extra 3% stamp duty because to date she has not sold her house. Ion more recent reading of tax news i now enquire as to whether we unnecessarily paid the 3% and are elligible to claim it back

G_M

She became joint owner of the new property. She already owns a property and now owns 2.

Additional SDLT is due.

Use the SDLT calculator to work out how much tax you’ll pay.

00ec25

Tobyagoode wrote: »

I recently sold my principal residence in which my girl freind (partner) also resided.
She had rented out her own house for the last 3 years.
We jointly and equally purchased a new home and it was thought necessary to pay the extra 3% stamp duty because to date she has not sold her house. Ion more recent reading of tax news i now enquire as to whether we unnecessarily paid the 3% and are elligible to claim it back

don't know what you read, but the guidance is very clear when you read it. She is now the owner of 2 properties and was therefore correctly liable for the higher rate when "you" jointly purchased her additional property, given it is a tax on the purchase of ... an additional residential property
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/stamp-duty-land-tax-buying-an-additional-residential-property

the property she continues to own was not her main residence for at least the previous 3 years given it was let in that period. (I assume "partner" means you are not married, so are not classed as "one unit" for the purposes of main residence anyway?)

therefore she fails the test of being able to sell her previous main residence, after purchasing a new main residence, BUT within 3 years of the sold property last being used by her as a main residence (read para 3.25)

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stamp-duty-land-tax-higher-rates-for-purchases-of-additional-residential-properties

poppy10_2

The link in this article to the "old stamp duty calculator" doesn't work anymore

Sacarsium

RichardDr wrote: »

Hi, I am selling my house (£240k) and my mothers house (£260k)which is in my name and my sisters, the issue I have is we are buying a house for £340k and there may be an amount of time ( a month or two) before mother house is sold, can anyone advise how I stand regarding stamp duty liabilities in this situation?

Hopefully by know you've found this out but just in case you haven't.
Stamp duty is all down to how much you're buying the property for so whether you sell 1 before the other shouldn't matter. The only caveat I would add is, if the plan is to buy the new house before both are sold then you may be subject to the higher stamp duty rate as it could count as a 2nd home.

DomLewis24

Hi,

I am in the processes of buying a house, I am a first time buyer but my wife is not. Do we still have to pay for Stamp Duty??

Aylesbury_Duck

DomLewis24 wrote: »

Hi,

I am in the processes of buying a house, I am a first time buyer but my wife is not. Do we still have to pay for Stamp Duty??

You do if you are buying the house together, yes.

erki

Hello,

I have just bought a flat in London for £400k (my first property), with a completion date of 14th November. I have not yet paid the stamp duty as I wanted to see what the new budget announcement would say.

Since the new rules are "effective immediately" does that mean I can pay the stamp duty according to the new rules? (and save £5k) Or am I stuck since my completion date is before 22nd November?

If I'm bound by the completion date, is there a way to amend the completion date (with the permission/agreement of the seller of course)?

Cheers

00ec25

erki wrote: »

Hello,

I have just bought a flat in London for £400k (my first property), with a completion date of 14th November. I have not yet paid the stamp duty as I wanted to see what the new budget announcement would say.

Since the new rules are "effective immediately" does that mean I can pay the stamp duty according to the new rules? (and save £5k) Or am I stuck since my completion date is before 22nd November?

If I'm bound by the completion date, is there a way to amend the completion date (with the permission/agreement of the seller of course)?

Cheers

do you understand the difference between exchange date and completion date?

the liability for SDLT is on the completion date, not the exchange date
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm07600

if you needed a mortgage to purchase the property then your conveyancer would require the cash to cover the SDLT to be in their hands before you completed. So when you say you have not yet paid it that suggests you have merely exchanged, rather than completed?

if you do not need a mortgage and have genuinely completed on 14th Nov then you need to get a move on as you have 30 days in which to pay the SDLT. As per the link in my previous post, the rules are applicable from 22nd Nov. The word used is "from", that does not mean backdated to 14th Nov because that is what you'd prefer it to mean.

if you have merely exchanged on the 14th, and thus not yet completed, then yes, the new rule means you will not pay SDLT if a 400k property is "in" London

erki

Thanks.

Yes, we exchanged contracts a few days before the 14th, and completed on the 14th. Yes I have a mortgage. I also proved that I have enough money to pay the old stamp duty amounts. I was aware I have 30 days to pay stamp duty, which is why I didn't pay immediately just in case there was a favourable rule change!

So, i have completed, but not paid stamp duty yet. My main query is, in order for me to pay the new stamp duty, does the completion date have to be after 22nd Nov, or do I simply have to be paying the stamp duty after the 22nd?