Shared Ownership Stamp Duty Refund

henrygregory

Hello there,
I recently purchased 75% of a Shared Ownership home with a selling value of £310,000. I had to pay £500 in stamp duty at the time, and paid it for the entire value of the property.

I note that now the threshold for first time buyers paying Stamp Duty has risen from 300k to 500k and my solicitor has advised that I am due a refund from HMRC but they want over £350 in fees to recover this for me.

Does anyone know which department at HMRC I would need to contact to get my money back? I have my UTRN number and I am ready to contact whoever I need to.

Tom99

henrygregory wrote: »

Hello there,
I recently purchased 75% of a Shared Ownership home with a selling value of £310,000. I had to pay £500 in stamp duty at the time, and paid it for the entire value of the property.

I note that now the threshold for first time buyers paying Stamp Duty has risen from 300k to 500k and my solicitor has advised that I am due a refund from HMRC but they want over £350 in fees to recover this for me.

Does anyone know which department at HMRC I would need to contact to get my money back? I have my UTRN number and I am ready to contact whoever I need to.

The threshold has not risen it is still the 1st £300k which is free of stamp duty. You have paid the correct amount as a FTB.

henrygregory

Tom99 wrote: »

The threshold has not risen it is still the 1st £300k which is free of stamp duty. You have paid the correct amount as a FTB.

From the BBC:

Now, stamp duty will also be abolished for first-time buyers of shared ownership properties - when someone buys between 25% and 75% of a home and then rents the rest of it.
It will apply to all shared ownership homes worth up to £500,000 and backdated to anyone who has bought one since last year's Budget.

There

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46024789


...this will be me

Tom99

henrygregory wrote: »

From the BBC:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-46024789
...this will be me

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Unfortunately much of the reporting on the budget change is less than complete and certainly misleading about the £500,000.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]FTB relief is available on homes costing up to £500,000, but only the 1st £300,000 is stamp duty free. The budget did not change those figures.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Shared ownership purchasers who choose to pay stamp duty on the total value rather than just the share they are buying, have always been regarded as FTB for this relief anyway, which is your position and why you only paid £500.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]What has changed this week is that those buyers who choose to only pay stamp duty on the %age they were buying were not previously allowed FTB relief but now they can claim that relief like everyone else – this does not apply to you.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]Had you chosen to pay stamp duty on 75% of £310,000 you would have paid £2,150 so choosing to pay £500 instead, and no further stamp duty if you top up your ownership to 100%, was a no brainer.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]If you had paid the £2,150 you could now claim it all back, but you did not so you can't.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]However had you only paid on 75% then when you staircase to 100% you would pay extra stamp duty of £5,500 - £2,150 = £3,350. There is no FTB relief on any future staircasing.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]So under the new rules it would still make sound sense to pay the £500 on £310,000 rather that £0 on £232,500 but a further £3,350 when you staircase to 100%.[/FONT]

Tom99

csgohan4 wrote: »

It's the latest budget so won't be applicable for the past, nothing stopping you from trying with the HMRC, post what answer you get

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]No so. If you were a FTB, chose to pay in stages and therefore did not get FTB relief and completed after 22nd Nov 2017, you can claim a refund.[/FONT]

00ec25

This is what the budget said:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2018-documents/budget-2018
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and first-time buyers relief – The government will extend first-time buyers relief in England and Northern Ireland so that all qualifying shared ownership property purchasers can benefit, whether or not the purchaser elects to pay SDLT on the market value of the property. This change will apply to relevant transactions with an effective date on or after 29 October 2018, and will also be backdated to 22 November 2017 so that those eligible who have not previously claimed first-time buyers relief will be able to amend their return to claim a refund.

You will note it says extend relief, it does not say introduce relief, therefore, as Tom says, the existing rules and thresholds apply with the only change being those who did not make a market value election are now able to claim it as well, subject to the deadlines set out in the budget

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751718/Stamp_Duty_Land_Tax_relief_for_first_time_buyers_-_guidance_note.pdf

henrygregory

00ec25 wrote: »

This is what the budget said:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2018-documents/budget-2018
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and first-time buyers relief – The government will extend first-time buyers relief in England and Northern Ireland so that all qualifying shared ownership property purchasers can benefit, whether or not the purchaser elects to pay SDLT on the market value of the property. This change will apply to relevant transactions with an effective date on or after 29 October 2018, and will also be backdated to 22 November 2017 so that those eligible who have not previously claimed first-time buyers relief will be able to amend their return to claim a refund.

You will note it says extend relief, it does not say introduce relief, therefore, as Tom says, the existing rules and thresholds apply with the only change being those who did not make a market value election are now able to claim it as well, subject to the deadlines set out in the budget

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751718/Stamp_Duty_Land_Tax_relief_for_first_time_buyers_-_guidance_note.pdf

Thank you both Tom and the person I am quoting..sorry I couldn't remember your username.

I wish things could be made clearer in the first place. I am glad I made the right decision in electing to pay the stamp duty on the full value of my property. I thought it would be the best thing to do at the time.

Thanks again for your help on this.