SDLT12 for house of £115,000?

abbyiii

Help. I'm panicking and my brain isn't working. Searching the internet is just not helping.

Moved in February, first time buyer for a house just under £115,000. Got home from work today to find a SDLT12 demanding £11,500?

I thought SDLT was stamp duty land tax? And I also thought that stamp duty wasn't paid on residential sales under £125,000?

Of course both HMRC and the solicitors are both closed for the weekend.

Do I really have to find an additional £11,500?
(10% of the purchase price, and basically a year's take home pay)

I just don't have that kind of money!

[Deleted User]

Stamp duty is 1% of the purchase price between £125k and £250k. From £250k to £500 it's 3% and for £500k to £1m it's 4%. To have a bill of £11,500 you would have to have paid in the region of £380,000. I would be almost absolutely sure this is a mistake on behalf of HMRC, or the solicitor reported the price incorrectly. If you have £4 to spare you could look up your property on the land registry to find out what information they hold as I believe this is where HMRC get their information. Unless HMRC suspect you've committed fraud (have you?) you should be fine, may be time consuming to resolve but there's no way you should be expected to cough up this much.

Either way don't panic!

ConfusedofYorkshire

You're right, house only pay stamp duty if the house is over 124k. And even then it's only 1%, not 11. So there has to be a mistake.

Upsidedown_Bear

https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax-rates

abbyiii

Thank you all. Really. I was shaking (still am really, shock I guess).

I thought it must be an error, but with my brain in panic mode, I needed a second (or third) person to confirm it for me.

So on Monday should I contact HMRC, the solicitor, both? The letter says to dispute it in writing, but would it be a good idea to call first?

[Deleted User]

abbyiii wrote: »

So on Monday should I contact HMRC, the solicitor, both? The letter says to dispute it in writing, but would it be a good idea to call first?

Personally I would contact HMRC first, it's very possible that you'll need to speak to your solicitor but it could be the case that this is simply HMRC sending a letter to the wrong person. HMRC will be able to let you know if it's a clerical error (in which case you'll be able to just ignore it) or if it's an error that the solicitor is responsible for, in which case you can then contact the solicitor armed with that knowledge

beecher2

I'd phone your solicitor first. It should be up to them to sort it out for you and find out where the error has occured.

eddddy

beecher2 wrote: »

I'd phone your solicitor first. It should be up to them to sort it out for you and find out where the error has occured.

Except that the solicitor will probably just write a letter to HMRC, and may charge you for doing it (unless it is the solicitor's error).

Phoning HMRC won't incur any fees, and it may get your answer in minutes rather than days.

hcb42

I would phone the solicitor, that's what you pay them for, and they will be the ones wanting the cash

hawk30

hcb42 wrote: »

I would phone the solicitor, that's what you pay them for, and they will be the ones wanting the cash

It's likely a clerical error by HMRC. If it is and the OP gets their solicitor to sort it out, the OP will be charged. The OP is better off contacting HMRC first.