Buy to let stamp duty query

Slithery

Aren't married couples usually treated s a single unit for SDLT purposes?


You both owned one house now you both own two, so SDLT should have been paid.

noh

KevSmith wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies - hopefully this will clarify:

Partner moved in with me 3 years ago and we got married 1 year ago. She moved into my house which is obviously in my name only.

As she owned no home and the house has gone down in her name only I paid no stamp duty as it isn't a second home and was less than 125k.............


Thanks

Additional stamp duty is due because you were married when purchasing the second property, it makes no difference which of the spouses names it is in.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/stamp-duty-land-tax-buying-an-additional-residential-property

If you’re married or in a civil partnership
The rules apply to you both as if you were buying the property together, even if you’re not.

If either of you individually have to pay the higher rates, you must pay the higher rates for the transaction as a whole (unless you’re permanently separated).

AnotherJoe

KevSmith wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies - hopefully this will clarify:

Partner moved in with me 3 years ago and we got married 1 year ago. She moved into my house which is obviously in my name only.

As she owned no home and the house has gone down in her name only I paid no stamp duty as it isn't a second home and was less than 125k.............

Thanks

If you/your wife bought the second house after you got married, it seems you misunderstood and lied on the forms. And your solicitor has also made a boo boo by not asking the right questions.

If you owned a house, and then your wife bought a house, then you should have paid the extra 3%. I would expect the computer systems will catch up with you at some point.
If you owned a house, and then your partner bought a house before you got married,then no need to pay the extra.

00ec25

davidmcn wrote: »

Well, if it's not even your house then of course you don't need to pay any stamp duty for it...

you cannot say that until you know when the purchase occurred in relation to the marriage

G_M

Originally Posted by davidmcn
Well, if it's not even your house then of course you don't need to pay any stamp duty for it...

00ec25 wrote: »

you cannot say that until you know when the purchase occurred in relation to the marriage

I read David's post as a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that as the house is in spouse's name, spouse (not OP) should pay the tax.......

Pixie5740

KevSmith wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies - hopefully this will clarify:

Partner moved in with me 3 years ago and we got married 1 year ago. She moved into my house which is obviously in my name only.

As she owned no home and the house has gone down in her name only I paid no stamp duty as it isn't a second home and was less than 125k.............


Thanks

Obvious isn't the word I would use. It was not obvious from your OP that you already owned a property in your name only nor is it obvious that your wife purchased the £60k property since you said, "I bought the house a month ago for 60k."

When your wife purchased the £60k property the higher rate of SDLT applied because as a married couple you already owned a residential property even if it was just in your name only. Are you saying that your wife paid no SDLT on the purchase or are you saying that you personally paid no SDLT?

davidmcn

G_M wrote: »

I read David's post as a tongue-in-cheek suggestion that as the house is in spouse's name, spouse (not OP) should pay the tax.......

Quite - if the wife bought the house then it's the wife's SDLT return with the wrong information on it.

KevSmith

Seems I'd better get my cheque book out then!

AnotherJoe

davidmcn wrote: »

Quite - if the wife bought the house then it's the wife's SDLT return with the wrong information on it.

But OP wrote (my emphasis)

I recently bought a second home for my wife and kids

Not "my wife bought"

saajan_12

KevSmith wrote: »

Hi,

I recently bought a second home for my wife and kids to live in as we were going to be splitting up. As ever with relationships/complications etc we've now decided not to and so have this 'other' house. - if this is a second house, do you own your first house?If yes, then the purpose is irrelevant - as a married couple who were 'going to split up' as opposed to already 2+ years separated, you purchased a 2nd home.


I bought the house a month ago for 60k so it was exempt from stamp duty but I'm now considering letting it out. - Incorrect, if the couple purchased a 2nd home, it is liable for higher rate stamp duty which is 0% for normal SDLT + 3% for second home. Total £1,800 due within 30 days of purchase

My question is will I have to retrospectively pay the 3% stamp duty as it is a BTL property now (technically it wasn't when I bought it!) The purpose (BTL or second home) is irrelevant. When it was purchased, it was the 2nd property you owned as a couple, so liable for 3% stamp duty.

Thanks

KevSmith wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks for all the replies - hopefully this will clarify:

Partner moved in with me 3 years ago and we got married 1 year ago. She moved into my house which is obviously in my name only. - still not obvious whether you own this house or rent in your name only.

As she owned no home and the house has gone down in her name only - irrelevant, the house was purchased when you were married, so who owns what is irrelevant. As a couple, you own 2 properties. I paid no stamp duty as it isn't a second home and was less than 125k............. - it is a second home, so the threshold is 40k. For a 60k house, it should have attracted 3% stamp duty at the time of £1,800


Thanks

OP, you have a couple of misconceptions: hopefully this will help clarify
1) A married couple is treated as one unit for assessing first time buyer status and additional property status.
2) The unit already owned 1 property and subsequently purchased property number 2.
3) The purpose of the additional property (BTL / holiday home / investment / primary home) is irrelevant. The point is its an additional property purchased by the married couple.
4) Additional property attracts additional SDLT: for a 60k property this is 3% -> £1,800 payable within 30 days of completion. This is unaffected by change of use.