We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Strange situation.

2

Comments

  • Vincenzo
    Vincenzo Posts: 526 Forumite
    BNB wrote: »
    Can i find out for myself if it has been paid or not. I really dont want to go back to her. She was probs the worst person i have ever delt with in my entire life. She was bad at everything she did!!!

    BNB,

    Call HM Revenue & Customs and tell them you want to ensure your solicitor has forwarded the funds. They should be able to tell you.......

    I would also ask how long following the purchase you have to pay before you can be fined.

    http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/howtopay/sdlt.htm

    I doubt the solicitor has paid it but good luck!
  • Hmm I would do diddly squat. Keep the sum to one side but pay up if asked. My line of work involves something similar and government depts are woefully inadequate at times.
  • jamesd
    jamesd Posts: 26,103 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    BNB, write to the solicitor saying you've been reviewing the documentation and wonder if this total is right. For a couple of weeks they may not bother to seek interest payment on the money when you've saved them the hassle of working out where their money went.
  • Vincenzo
    Vincenzo Posts: 526 Forumite
    BNB wrote: »
    Can i find out for myself if it has been paid or not. I really dont want to go back to her. She was probs the worst person i have ever delt with in my entire life. She was bad at everything she did!!!

    BNB - did your solicitor ask you to fill in and return an SDLT form? If not they will not have paid the stamp duty on your behalf.

    If you have filled in the form and the solicitors have paid the stamp duty for you then raise a glass of champagne and hope their accountant is just as incompetent....although this is unlikely as solicitors have to open a separate client account to hold your money. They will have a referencing system to cross reference the payment of stamp duty with your purchase.

    My brother was fined for late payment after his solicitor failed to send on the funds. It was somewhere in the region of £200 so I suppose in your position to do nothing and plead ignorance if it comes to light may be a viable option.

    Either way I would be interested to hear the outcome.......
  • pollyanna24
    pollyanna24 Posts: 4,391 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I work for a solicitors and occassionally do conveyancing. There is a SDLT form to be filled out which you have to sign, and then the solicitor takes payment to post office with a remittance slip on this form.

    The stamp duty can be paid up to a month after completion before fines are introduced.
    Pink Sproglettes born 2008 and 2010
    Mortgages (End 2017) - £180,235.03
    (End 2021) - £131,215.25 DID IT!!!
    (End 2022) - Target £116,213.81
  • Yes totally agree with other posters YOU are liable not them and if its not paid within 28 days it WILL incur fines.

    I know its their mistake but you wont be able to justify saying you 'didnt notice' if this all goes wrong. They are incompetent for getting it wrong, but ultimately you will pay apenalty if you dont sort this out now.

    I have worked for a solicitor where this happened before and it worked out that the stamp duty was doubled by the time you aded the fine on. The client still had to pay their bit but the solicitors forked out the difference. But it was their negligence and they didnt realise until about nine months later when the file was to be archived...!
  • BNB_2
    BNB_2 Posts: 16 Forumite
    Hi everyone. First of all thank you all for your valuable feed back.

    In reply to some of the question and suggestion put to me:-
    • I called HM registry office to ask if my payment had been made. However they said that they cannot give me this information unless I can give them reference number which my solicitor should have (now I don’t want to be going back to my solicitors asking for it to raise suspicion).
    • As far as the SDLT form is concerned on the invoice she has charged me £75 therefore I assume she filled one in for me.
    As for a separate account – When I was asked to pay money to her it was to her personal account does this therefore mean she did not open a separate account for me??
  • Vincenzo
    Vincenzo Posts: 526 Forumite
    BNB wrote: »
    Hi everyone. First of all thank you all for your valuable feed back.

    In reply to some of the question and suggestion put to me:-
    • I called HM registry office to ask if my payment had been made. However they said that they cannot give me this information unless I can give them reference number which my solicitor should have (now I don’t want to be going back to my solicitors asking for it to raise suspicion).
    • As far as the SDLT form is concerned on the invoice she has charged me £75 therefore I assume she filled one in for me.
    As for a separate account – When I was asked to pay money to her it was to her personal account does this therefore mean she did not open a separate account for me??

    We have gone off on a bit of a tangent here re. the client account but your solicitor should be following these rules...http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/documents/downloads/Profethics_SAR.pdf

    Regardless of that, only the purchaser can sign the SDLT form. I recently purchased a property and was hounded by my solicitor until I returned it signed so as not to miss the deadline.

    I do not wish to put a damper on things but I very much doubt you will get away without paying the stamp duty and are far more likely to end up with a fine. The problem is you may not find out until the fine is quite hefty. It is also unlikely your solicitor will foot this bill. My brother was not in the least bit at fault as his solicitor was in receipt of funds. They refused to pay and are legally within their rights to do so as it is the taxpayers liability.
  • BNB_2
    BNB_2 Posts: 16 Forumite
    After looking back at all the forms i filled out I have noticed i signed a SDLT form which i returned to her. Now the form was not filled out however i still signed it and returned as instructed by her. I assume she was to do the rest :confused:
  • Vincenzo
    Vincenzo Posts: 526 Forumite
    BNB wrote: »
    After looking back at all the forms i filled out I have noticed i signed a SDLT form which i returned to her. Now the form was not filled out however i still signed it and returned as instructed by her. I assume she was to do the rest :confused:

    Hmmm - interesting! How much is that stamp duty? It sounds as though your solicitor may well have paid for you! Of course, once they notice (which they will unless they are as incompetent as they sound) they will come after you for the money. However there should be no repercussions other than having to pay eventually.

    I have to say that in your position I would keep quiet for now too. Was there a reference number on the form that you could check with the tax office?

    One other way of checking is to see if your purchase shows up at the land registry....go to www.nethouseprices.com. Unfortunately it takes time to appear but Land Registry will not register the trasfer in ownership until the stamp duty has been paid. If it has not appeared say 2 whole calendar months following completion (subject to when the site is updated, which I think it tells you) then I would start to think the stamp duty has not been paid......
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.