Stamp duty - can I use my garden office to help buyers avoid the tax?

vicky7oaks

I'm about to put my house on the market and it has been valued at £265K but I am fairly sure that everyone will off £249,950 and no more because they won't want to pay £7500 in stamp duty.

I have a 4 year old garden office in the garden which was originally bought for £7K. It is moveable and could be relocated elsewhere as it just sits on a concrete base. Therefore, I believe it can be classified as a fixture/fitting. Would the marketing details have to ignore the office in order to use it later as a bargaining tool? Is £6-7K likely to alert the tax people or is this ok?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

Vicky

Annisele

£6k - £7k extra on a sale of £250k would most definitely alert the tax people!

In practice, you need to be able to persuade your buyer's solicitor that your scheme will work. (In theory HMRC are the ones who decide, but your buyers are going to be the ones taking the risk so it's their solicitor you'd need to persuade).

If the garden office is considered 'fixtures and fittings' - which are deemed to be immovable and therefore part of the property - then your scheme will definitely not work. If it is considered as chattels - more like carpets and curtains - then it might. HMRC publishes some guidance as to which is which.

I think the test would be how easy it is to move the garden office. Would it be feasible for you to sell the property without the garden office? If not, I think that would suggest it was a fixture and not a chattel.

PasturesNew

No. "Linked purchases" are added together. Even if you bought two separate flats in the same block, they're called linked purchases and they are totalled for SD purposes.

PasturesNew

I googled it: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/sdlt/calculate/linked-transfers.htm

gauly

Simple solution: sell the office to someone else and get it removed. The value of the house will fall a little but probably not below £250k.

timmyt

vicky7oaks wrote: »

I'm about to put my house on the market and it has been valued at £265K but I am fairly sure that everyone will off £249,950 and no more because they won't want to pay £7500 in stamp duty.

I have a 4 year old garden office in the garden which was originally bought for £7K. It is moveable and could be relocated elsewhere as it just sits on a concrete base. Therefore, I believe it can be classified as a fixture/fitting. Would the marketing details have to ignore the office in order to use it later as a bargaining tool? Is £6-7K likely to alert the tax people or is this ok?

Many thanks in advance for your help!

Vicky

gardn office is permanent, just ask the revenue...but either way, all too messy. no lawyer will allow it.