Coronavirus - Delay in stamp duty.

jackroit

Hi all
I got a letter from the HMRC to pay stamp duty on a property I completed a month ago,

• I just want to ask if someone knows if I can delay it now, because of the coronavirus? 
• in general is there any option to pay stamp duty with installments? 

Thanks 

Browntoa

No 

And 

No , not that I am aware of . 

Surely paying the stamp duty was a part of your solicitor duties

davidmcn

Or to put it another way, yes you can delay it but it just means you're adding to the penalties and interest for late payment.

I think the government would take the view that if you could afford to complete a purchase a month ago, you would have budgeted for the stamp duty.

markyhallam

A follow up question...does anyone know if the government has any plans to waive stamp duty in the immediate future due to the current situation?

Browntoa

Not in the slightest.

They have much bigger worries , the housing market dying is not one of them

davidmcn

markyhallam said:

A follow up question...does anyone know if the government has any plans to waive stamp duty in the immediate future due to the current situation?

I suspect any assistance will be concentrated towards those businesses and individuals who are genuinely struggling - which I don't think includes those who can still afford to buy property.

This is HMRC's general advice for those struggling to pay taxes, but no hints of special concessions for SDLT (assuming that's what posters are meaning by "stamp duty" rather than LBTT or LTT, though I doubt the position is going to be any different in Scotland or Wales).

steampowered

Don't you, or your solicitor, have to confirm to the land registry that stamp duty has been paid before you can be registered as the owner of the property?

hazyjo

Browntoa said:

Surely paying the stamp duty was a part of your solicitor duties

This is really important. Why didn't your solicitor arrange payment? If you have a mortgage, they will have had to. Are you sure that money wasn't passed to your solicitor? It's not unheard of for dodgy firms (well, one that I dealt with) not to pass on the stamp duty monies.

davidmcn

steampowered said:

Don't you, or your solicitor, have to confirm to the land registry that stamp duty has been paid before you can be registered as the owner of the property?

They certainly need confirmation that a return has been submitted, I'm not sure that the LR cares whether the tax is then paid.

babyblade41

Not big on mortgages but isn't the SDLT passed to the solicitor as part of completion ?

davidmcn

babyblade41 said:

Not big on mortgages but isn't the SDLT passed to the solicitor as part of completion ?

If buying with a mortgage then yes that's a standard part of the lender's instructions to solicitors. If it's a cash purchase then entirely up to the purchaser how they handle SDLT.

The OP of course hasn't clarified whether there's a mortgage or even a solicitor involved.