Stung by stamp duty avoidance scheme help!!!!

somethingcorporate

You took a huge gamble on clearly a dodgy scheme and got stung.

The contract you signed will not have anything about guarantees in there, I am certain it will end up with you paying the fees whether or not you manage to scam HMRC of their due tax.

Take it as an expensive lesson.

Smith_007

ecswtrav wrote: »

The point is the 4k fees they have received for doing nothing and the scam they've commited.

Look on the bright side.
The £4k 'fees' you paid to the solicitors will be taxed.
:rotfl:

On behalf of all at MSE, I applaud your public spirit, contributing extra tax in a time of austerity. Well done.
:T

Dan:_4

gutted. . .

chickaroonee

ecswtrav wrote: »

Thanks for the grilling. No problem I expected it. I'm paying the stamp duty - I dont have a problem with that - as you and agree I should have done it in the first place rather than scrimping.

The point is the 4k fees they have received for doing nothing and the scam they've commited.

Rather than grilling me anymore realistically is there anything I can do as its the fact I've been somehat conned and they're still at it adversting 100% success.

Check your contract, bet it doesn't say that.

I'd treat it as an (expensive) lesson for the future and leave it there.

princeofpounds

You can try to sue them if you like. I'm willing to bet that the small print promises you exactly nothing in regards to actually achieving stamp duty evasion. The charge is merely for arranging the attempt.

SOME of the schemes supposedly had insurance to pay the fees (but not the tax) if the scheme was busted, but I wouldn't be surprised if the insurer suddenly goes bust or has silly get-out clauses.

bouicca21

Even when these schemes were at their height if you had researched it you would have found lots of warnings about just how dodgy they were and how blurred the line between avoidance and evasion was. It might be worth trying to do a deal with HMRC over the interest, but you're stuck with paying the rest.

As for the company with your 4 grand - I suspect you might find they have become very difficult to contact. Maybe you should link up with some other sufferers and investigate whether a civil or possibly even a criminal action is likely to succeed.

Dan-Dan

I think that if there was even the smallest chance of getting the money back with things like these , then everybody would have been using this sort of company in the first place

rpc

You spend nearly £300k on a house and you can't afford £4k in stamp duty?

Stamp duty is a badly structured tax and it pains me to pay it, but if you can't afford the stamp duty then that suggests that your finances are so badly strained that you can't really afford the house.

Dan-Dan wrote: »

I think that if there was even the smallest chance of getting the money back with things like these , then everybody would have been using this sort of company in the first place

Indeed. I'm more than happy to avoid tax by putting money in a pension and ISAs or by using salary sacrifice, but these stamp duty schemes have always operated so close to the edge that it has been clear to most people that they aren't acceptable.

antrobus

This Guidance Note issued by HMRC explains.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/budget2013/sdlt-retrospective-changes.pdf

Dear Gideon made it perfectly clear in his 2012 budget that he would retrospectively clamp down on any SDLT avoidance schemes. So lo and behold in his 2013 budget he retrospectively killed off some new SDLT avoidance schemes.

michaels

If the company is not regulated your only comeback is the small claims court. I guess you could also report it as fraud if you think they made claims that are patently untrue, the timing may be relevant, I don't see how they could be responsible for retrospective changes in the legislation but if they took the fee after the legislation was changed I guess you might have a case....