stamp duty

widski

Hi peeps

Ok so im looking to buy a flat and the vendor has accepted my offer of £270,000 (negotiations done through the estate agent).

The stamp duty is £8100 which is a real killer. Obviously i want to reduce this if possible. so please tell me what are there if any ways of doing this.

over and out! cheers!

clutton_2

sorry - bite the bullet and pay up - the taxman knows all the wheezes to get round it.

unless your vendor will accept £249,999.99 !!

Gorgeous_George

I think that the only way is to offer £250k or thereabouts for the flat (how much!) and the remainder for something else.

Better still, offer £250K for the flat.

GG

Romani_Ite_Domum

It's part of buying a house and not much you can do about it. Sorry.

If you don't want to pay that much, you could try getting the vendor down another £5K.

Sammy85_2

I know you're not supposed to do it, but £250k for the flat and £20k for the fixtures and fittings?

We just got our house valued at £135k (£10k above stamp) which worried us as to putting potential ftb's off. We were advised to market it at £135k and then if required you could sell for £125k plus £10k for fixtures and fittings. How this would work in practice i dont know, obviously you would still have to find the money for the "fixtures and fittings" as your lender wouldnt give you it as part of the initial mortgage.

The only other option is getting the stamp duty added to your mortgage (and end up paying a hell of a lot more over 25yrs) or take a short term loan if you're seriously strapped for cash!

kodokan

Sammy85 wrote: »

I know you're not supposed to do it, but £250k for the flat and £20k for the fixtures and fittings?

We just got our house valued at £135k (£10k above stamp) which worried us as to putting potential ftb's off. We were advised to market it at £135k and then if required you could sell for £125k plus £10k for fixtures and fittings. How this would work in practice i dont know

The Inland Revenue (or whatever they're called this week) is REALLY wise to this one - anything above about £1-2k for fixtures and fittings will almost certainly be investigated. I suppose the only way it could work is to keep all mention of it out of the paperwork, then do a deal with the buyers they'll bung you £10k in an envelope afterwards. Which they won't. And what exactly can you do about it then..?

Stamp Duty Threshold houses are a b****r to sell, especially around the £250k one. Original poster - depending on how much you want the flat/ how long it's been for sale, go back and reduce your offer, explaining you've only just found out about the SD thing. The sellers WILL be aware it's an issue, so it won't be altogether a surprise for them. Sammy - resign yourself that you may only get £125k for your house: if there's no interest after the first few weeks, then that's your problem.

And no, you can't cut a deal where the buyer pays your EA fees either - counts as a related transaction for SD tax purposes.

Guess who had a house to sell around the £250k mark a while ago...

kodokan