Stamp duty ... Gutted!

katiep1990

Hi all,

My boyfriend and I are first time buyers, we exchanged conditional contracts a few month back for a new build due to complete end of this month. When signing contracts we spoke to our solicitor about stamp duty (our home is £136995, however is in a 'disadvantaged area' which according to HMRC is exempt from stamp duty) she agreed and advised that we do not have to pay it. So we have been saving all we can to get our 10% deposit (which has been difficult as we are both in early 20s, recently out of uni). We were told in an email(!!) from our solicitor a week ago that the HMRC have abolished the exception for stamp duty, so we will now have to come up wit £1369.95 extra on completion (as it is solicitors policy to collect stamp duty up front) luckily we have been saving a little extra than the basic, however we only have one pay day to go! We will just about manage to pay the basics but are now completely set back!

Anyone have any suggestions?/ Encountered a similar experience?

Soooo angry! Exciting/Happy time in our lives and this has seemed to spoil it all!

Katie
xxx

sharp910sh

Got to do your own research, never 100% trust these people/

sheilaluc

If you go to the HM revenue and Customs website it says it was abolished from today.

katiep1990

Hey, I already have unfortunately as of today (6/4/13) the policy changes... just seems so unfair! x

G_M

Hard on you, but unfair? No, it's a change in the tax system. Tax on alcohol has also gone up. "Unfair" I hear all drinkers cry!

HappyMJ

G_M wrote: »

Hard on you, but unfair? No, it's a change in the tax system. Tax on alcohol has also gone up. "Unfair" I hear all drinkers cry!

I want to know why I'm not getting a penny change when I buy a pint of beer from the pub...that tax has gone down.

katiep1990

G_M wrote: »

Hard on you, but unfair? No, it's a change in the tax system. Tax on alcohol has also gone up. "Unfair" I hear all drinkers cry!

I understand that it is a tax, however, I do think it is unfair , as we have already exchanged contracts on the assumption we would not have to pay stamp duty, the builders include it as a perk for those reserving plots now, however obviously we did not have that option as when we reserved there was no stamp duty for that area. I also think a months notice to find 1% of the value is quite unrealistic.

I do also drink alcohol, and I agree with you that is fair, I think stamp duty and alcohol tax is not comparable.

agrinnall

I think you do have grounds for at least dissatisfaction, and possibly a complaint, with your solicitor. They should have told you that the disadvantaged policy was due to be abolished (it's not a secret) which would have allowed you to push the builder to complete earlier. Yes, you could have found out about it yourself, but you are paying the solicitor for advice on the house buying process and I'd say they have failed to provide it.

BitterAndTwisted

I'm less worried about the unfairness of it than I am about a couple who are buying a house who don't seem to have an additional £1400 up their sleeves for the unforeseen. That would a bit too close to the wire for me.

katiep1990

We do have the extra £1400, I wouldn't call it spare, we were relying on that money to start furnishing our home. £1400 is a lot of money to a young couple. We did our research and made sure that everything would be affordable, this is just a big completely unexpected shock.

Ivrytwr3

When signing contracts we spoke to our solicitor about stamp duty (our home
is £136995, however is in a 'disadvantaged area' which according to HMRC is
exempt from stamp duty) she agreed and advised that we do not have to pay it.

Is that in writing/email etc? If so i would be going back to the solicitors with a complaint.