Completion of the SDLT Return

Leodogger

Has anyone actually completed this form themselves on their property purchase and sent it off to HMRC with the payment ?

Am looking to try and save the £75 charged by the solicitor. I know it has to be completed on a 30 day deadline to avoid interest charges on the tax but there are guidelines on their web site to help with completion. Just wondered if anyone has come unstuck by trying to complete it and submit it themselves

Doozergirl

From recollection, it's only a page. If you do have a problem with it, you can always retrospectively ask the solicitor to do it. I think if you think you're intelligent enough to do it yourself with the guidance notes, then you are.

Nothing to lose, really.

Leodogger

Doozergirl wrote: »

From recollection, it's only a page. If you do have a problem with it, you can always retrospectively ask the solicitor to do it. I think if you think you're intelligent enough to do it yourself with the guidance notes, then you are.

Nothing to lose, really.

You did one yourself ?

Doozergirl

I did one about 8 years ago. My solicitor charges £25 - for that price, it's not really worth the saving - I can't remember the last time I used one of those red letter boxes in the street .

£75 is a bit steep, imo.

Leodogger

Doozergirl wrote: »

I did one about 8 years ago. My solicitor charges £25 - for that price, it's not really worth the saving - I can't remember the last time I used one of those red letter boxes in the street .

£75 is a bit steep, imo.

Believe it or not this charge is standard from the research I did on conveyancing costs and as you say it is a bit steep. Just checked on HMRC and they state that if you are not an agent, business or solicitor, this form has to be submitted manually. There are guidelines though and I think when the SD Certificate comes back, you then send the info off to the Land Registry before they will change the Title Document.

Still to save almost £75 it would be worth filling in a one page document don't you think ? :T

G_M

It is more than a page! It has got more complicated which is why some conveyancers now use it as an excuse to charge extra.

Rip off - it should be included in the conveyancing as part of their basic fee.

However, to answer the Q: yes, it can be done. Just follow the guide and if in doubt, ring HMRC for explanations!

Leodogger

G_M wrote: »

It is more than a page! It has got more complicated which is why some conveyancers now use it as an excuse to charge extra.

Rip off - it should be included in the conveyancing as part of their basic fee.

However, to answer the Q: yes, it can be done. Just follow the guide and if in doubt, ring HMRC for explanations!

Just spoke to my sister who moved house 12 months ago and she completed the form herself. She said it was not that difficult and with the guidance notes I should be able to complete it myself. My sister said if you are used to completing forms it is not rocket science, so as I have just completed 29 pages of questions for the rest of the conveyancing work, I am sure another 4 is not going to make much difference :rotfl:

krispy444

Although you could I suppose complete the SDLT yourself but I warn you now it certainly isn't 1 page. I do also warn you that if you do do it manually and have to return it to HMRC before they return the certificate to you not only do you have to do it in the time period else you will incur a penalty you will also have to get the certificate to your solicitor so that their land registry application can be sent off before your priority search expires as the certificate needs to go with the application. Most solicitors do their SDLT online and get the certificate by return. Also not all solicitors charge to complete SDLT we don't !!!!

Leodogger

krispy444 wrote: »

Although you could I suppose complete the SDLT yourself but I warn you now it certainly isn't 1 page. I do also warn you that if you do do it manually and have to return it to HMRC before they return the certificate to you not only do you have to do it in the time period else you will incur a penalty you will also have to get the certificate to your solicitor so that their land registry application can be sent off before your priority search expires as the certificate needs to go with the application. Most solicitors do their SDLT online and get the certificate by return. Also not all solicitors charge to complete SDLT we don't !!!!

What priority search ? All the quotes I had were either more expensive (which is why I guess they didn't charge extra for the SDLT) or else it was added as an extra. At least this way I save £75, the alternative was paying £600 and the solicitor did it for us.

Leodogger

JWhite wrote: »

What priority search ? All the quotes I had were either more expensive (which is why I guess they didn't charge extra for the SDLT) or else it was added as an extra. At least this way I save £75, the alternative was paying £600 and the solicitor did it for us.

Just did a comparison site quote and the cheapest that came up was £3159 which admittedly included £100 for mortgage processing which we don't need as this is funded from our sale and savings. So compared to what we are paying for a local solicitor £3036 (which would have included the SDLT Return also) , we are saving £23 and have the benefit of local access to drop in documents etc. plus we will complete the SDLT Return which I believe has to be submitted within 30 days of the completion date.

Richard_Webster

If you are having a mortgage your solicitor has to make sure the SDLT return is submitted on time and therefore I can't see how they can allow you to do it.

To explain:

1.Lender requires its mortgage is registered against title.
2. Buyer's solicitor does search at Land Registry which shows whether anything nasty has happened (in which case buyer's solicitor won't complete unless seller sorts it - very rare) but normally will show no new entries and give a priority period during which the purchase and mortgage can registered in priority to anything else - e.g seller in financial trouble and bank decides to register a charge - they have to wait until the end of the priority period and if by then the buyer has been registered they are too late!
3.Cannot register unless SDLT certificate provided following submission of return.

Therefore I cannot see how any sensible solicitor would allow his buyer client to complete the return because he could not make sure he complied with his duties to the mortgage lender to secure the registration.

Of course, as I have said many times before, I do not think it is right to charge separately for this as the implication is that it is some kind of optional extra rather than a key part of a purchase transaction.