Am I a first time buyer???

smollster

Hi,

I lived abroad about 15 years ago and owned a property. which I sold in 1999 and moved back to this country.

I am now looking to buy a property in the UK (I have never previously owned a property in the UK) ..........am I considered to be a first time buyer and therefore do not have to pay stamp duty on a property worth around 150000-200000???

many thanks

sonastin

AFAIK the FTB exemption for stamp duty only applies to people who have never owned a property anywhere in the world ever. How they check up on whether you have owned overseas before is a different question...

lee636

We were asked if we had ever owned a property before, in this country or the world so no you are not a FTB.

paul1964_2

smollster wrote: »

Hi,

I lived abroad about 15 years ago and owned a property in Denmark. which I sold in 1999 and moved back to this country.

I am now looking to buy a property in the UK (I have never previously owned a property in the UK) ..........am I considered to be a first time buyer and therefore do not have to pay stamp duty on a property worth around 150000-200000???

many thanks

From HMRC.............

SDLT relief for first-time buyers


First-time buyers of residential property can apply for SDLT relief if all of the following apply:

• the effective date is on or after 25 March 2010 and before 25 March 2012
• the consideration given is £250,000 or less
• the buyer intends to live in the property and it will be their only or main home
• they have not previously owned property or land either in the UK or anywhere else in the world - including property bought with anyone else

smollster

So how would they check overseas about any property you may have owned???

paul1964_2

smollster wrote: »

So how would they check overseas about any property you may have owned???

I doubt whether they would/could, but personally I would not risk making a false claim for tax relief.

PasturesNew

smollster wrote: »

So how would they check overseas about any property you may have owned???

There are always, always, always ways they could.

The most likely way for them to find out is that somebody will know. Somebody will know you had a property abroad, they will know you didn't pay stamp duty this time. The information is always known by somebody you told .... you might not have thought of it, you might have not realised ... but you told and they remembered.... and they will have told others. And eventually, at some random future point, they'll dislike you enough for long enough to make a call to the Tax Fraud Investigation Line.

There's always somebody who knows .... it could even be somebody you don't tell. Maybe a chance conversation with the estate agent, who goes back to the office and mentions it ... and somebody you dislike is perusing the boards and overhears it .... and goes down the road to tittle tattle on the phone to all and sundry ... and one day, that information will fall into the hands of somebody who dislikes you enough for long enough to make a call to the Tax Fraud Investigation Line.

Really, you have to tell the truth on the forms because they WILL find out.

sonastin

PasturesNew wrote: »

There are always, always, always ways they could.

The most likely way for them to find out is that somebody will know. Somebody will know you had a property abroad, they will know you didn't pay stamp duty this time. The information is always known by somebody you told .... you might not have thought of it, you might have not realised ... but you told and they remembered.... and they will have told others. And eventually, at some random future point, they'll dislike you enough for long enough to make a call to the Tax Fraud Investigation Line.

There's always somebody who knows .... it could even be somebody you don't tell. Maybe a chance conversation with the estate agent, who goes back to the office and mentions it ... and somebody you dislike is perusing the boards and overhears it .... and goes down the road to tittle tattle on the phone to all and sundry ... and one day, that information will fall into the hands of somebody who dislikes you enough for long enough to make a call to the Tax Fraud Investigation Line.

Really, you have to tell the truth on the forms because they WILL find out.

And even if that sounds improbable, is saving £2k stamp duty now worth the cost if you were found out...

tanith

20yrs ago when my second husband and I bought a house, when we were asked if we were FTB he answered yes on the forms , he was, but I had jointly owned a house with my first husband... I only realised this after our purchase went through (I obviously didn't read the forms properly before signing them) I spent years worrying that this would come back and 'bite me on the bum' at some point but it never did... not sure why, maybe they just took our word for it..