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Stamp Duty and bust

Catbells
Catbells Posts: 863 Forumite
Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
in House buying, renting & selling
I've seen a house which is £530k and I just discovered that anything over £500k incurs 4% stamp duty whereas under its 3%. Do you think I can offer £499,999. It sounds a bit cheeky but would mean I wouldn't have to pay the 4% stamp duty and also I would be making a reasonable offer on the asking price.
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Comments

  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 34,082 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    edited 12 September 2010 at 5:51PM
    Yes!

    I'd start around £480k if you want to try and seal it at £500k.

    The threshold for 4% is £500,001 so it's fine to offer a round £500k without paying more SDLT.

    The EA won't be surprised at offers like that and they may be your friend in this case. It may even be priced at £530k to try and make it easier for them to sell at £500k. You never know.
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • jw2003
    jw2003 Posts: 786 Forumite
    Catbells wrote: »
    I've seen a house which is £530k and I just discovered that anything over £500k incurs 4% stamp duty whereas under its 3%. Do you think I can offer £499,999. It sounds a bit cheeky but would mean I wouldn't have to pay the 4% stamp duty and also I would be making a reasonable offer on the asking price.

    From what I can gather, a lot of people go in 10-15% under the asking price for the first offer which means you could go in at £450k and negotiate your way up to £499,999 - if the vendor meets you somewhere in the middle it's an added bonus :)
    :silenced:
  • mynameisdave
    mynameisdave Posts: 1,284 Forumite
    If its is priced at £530K then my guess would be that it is priced as such to attract a sale price of £500k.

    If they ask 500K they will get lower offers.
  • PasturesNew
    PasturesNew Posts: 70,698 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    I can't believe you've come so far in life you can afford a £500k house and only just found out about stamp duty being more.
  • lee636
    lee636 Posts: 460 Forumite
    Imagine if the vendor says they'll only except £500,002 :doh:
  • MrGreenNewForest
    MrGreenNewForest Posts: 16 Forumite
    Also there are ways, though effective tax planning, to reduce the stamp duty still further - if you want more info please contact via email
  • Catbells
    Catbells Posts: 863 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    PasturesNew wrote: »
    I can't believe you've come so far in life you can afford a £500k house and only just found out about stamp duty being more.

    The answer is simple - I haven't moved house for 20 years and have been busy doing other things in that time so stamp duty has not been something that's entered my head.
  • Catbells
    Catbells Posts: 863 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    MrGreenNewForest wrote: »
    Also there are ways, though effective tax planning, to reduce the stamp duty still further - if you want more info please contact via email

    Yes I read about two ways in yesterday's Times. One was through Sharia Law of all things. A friend has offered to help me on this. I will email you about the other one. Can you not say on here?
  • Catbells
    Catbells Posts: 863 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Combo Breaker
    lee636 wrote: »
    Imagine if the vendor says they'll only except £500,002 :doh:

    I'll let you know!!
  • FTBFun
    FTBFun Posts: 4,273 Forumite
    edited 13 September 2010 at 2:05PM
    MrGreenNewForest wrote: »
    Also there are ways, though effective tax planning, to reduce the stamp duty still further - if you want more info please contact via email

    Are you an accountant?

    Oh and this isn't the first time I've seen this "planning":

    https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2613055
This discussion has been closed.
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