Buying my first house - stamp duty land tax ADMIN FEE?

1sttyme

Hi All

I'm currently in the process of buying my first home and my solicitors have told me that I'll be expected to pay a £75 stamp duty land tax admin fee despite the fact that the value of the property doesn't meet the minimum £125,000 threshold for stamp duty.

Am I getting ripped off or is this just the way it is and something I have to put up with despite the obvious lack of logic!

Many thanks
Chris

paye

Don't quote me, but I think the solicitor still has to fill out a form even though if SDLT dosen't appl.

fed_up_and_stressed

1sttyme wrote: »

Hi All

I'm currently in the process of buying my first home and my solicitors have told me that I'll be expected to pay a £75 stamp duty land tax admin fee despite the fact that the value of the property doesn't meet the minimum £125,000 threshold for stamp duty.

Am I getting ripped off or is this just the way it is and something I have to put up with despite the obvious lack of logic!

Many thanks
Chris

On properties below stamp duty threshold the admin form to confirm no stamp duty is payable still has to be completed where the sale price (chargable consideration) is more than £40,000 (even if sale is below the £125000 threshold)

There is a guide hmrc have produced to state when the sdlt form doesn't need a return completing https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax-transactions-that-dont-need-a-return

buttonmoon

The solicitor still had to fill out the HMRC form for me but it was included as part of the conveyencing cost, so I was not charged seperately for this.

1sttyme

Thank you all, good to know I'm not merely being shafted!

Ah bureaucracy, you costly endeavour!

kingstreet

The better solicitors include this (and acting for mortgage lender) in their headline fee.

It sounds like you got a firm which likes to split up its fees so they look like additional services, rather than part of their usual costs.

Still, bet their quote looked cheaper at the beginning, didn't it?

1sttyme

Actually, my mortgage lender offered to pay for the basic solicitors fees as an incentive to the mortgage. A little bit sick now as to what doesnt constitute 'basic'

Richard_Webster

If the mortgage lender offered to pay for the basic fee then I think you have a good case to complain to them. Almost everyone buying will have to have the SDLT form completed so it is really part of the basic job.

"Cheap" solicitors put the SDLT admin fee in the small print of their terms and conditions so they can say later you should have read them!

However if the lender was involved then they won't want their reputation sullied so it may be worth trying to complain to them - you will have to be persistent as it often takes a long time for them to understand a point like this!

G_M

Well, you are being shafted, but probably nothing you can do about it.

Every house purchase requires a SDLT form be completed (it's about 8 pages long) and sent to HMRC.

Most 'proper' solicitors do this automatically, and include it as part of the basic cost of conveyancing. They do not charge extra for it, just as they do not charge extra for filling in other forms that are required (eg search application forms).

Many of the 'cheaper' conveyancing firms (esp the online ones), hide the fee in ther terms and conditions. That way they can quote a low fee for conveyancing, to get your business, and then hit you with extras like this later on.

Shafted!