Stamp Duty Confusion

r_d_brown

Hi
I would really appreciate advice as my solicitor seems pretty vague.
Scenario:
I owned two flats, one I lived in, in England and 1 I rent out in Scotland
My partner owned 1 house in England, in which she lived
We together purchased a new property in England
My Partner sold her property and moved into the new property
I moved into the new property, leaving the flat I lived in empty
We paid higher rate stamp duty
Less than 1 year has past
I am selling the flat I used to live in. The sale should go through in the next few weeks.
Can I claim back the extra stamp duty I paid?
Both main residences have been sold, but I do still own the flat in Scotland that I rent out and have done for 15 years
Thanks for any advice, RB

G_M

Your partner sold her main residence and bought a new main residence. No additional SDLT on that.

You bought a new main residence bu did not sell your previous main residence. So you (correctly) paid the additional SDLT.

You are now selling that previous main residence, within 3 years, so can reclaim the additional SDLT.

r_d_brown

Hi
So you don't think the flat in Scotland impacts this? My solicitor seems to think it does, but I feel the whole 'main residence' element means we don't. But I may be interpreting it in the best way for myself

G_M

See

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/570876/SDLT_Higher_rates_for_additional_properties.pdf

Condition D is not met once the replacement main residence is purchased (within 3 years).

Rambosmum

In short, yes, you can claim it back.

00ec25

your solicitor is wrong

yes it was correct that you had to pay the higher rate on the joint purchase of the new home since at that point you had not sold your previous main home

there is no doubt that it was you main home since you only owned 2 properties and the other was, and remains, let

you have now sold that old main home and thus qualify for a refund.

tell your solicitor to read the guide (see #4 above for link) properly this time paying attention to condition D and section 6.4 time limit

you may also want to read the answers to Q1, Q13, Q14, and particularly Q32

r_d_brown

Really apppreciate the feedback. Will feel better informed when I talk to solicitor