Simple Stamp Duty Question

Robster88

Hello, 
I have what is probably quite a simple stamp duty question however I have managed to confuse myself whilst googling the answer... I'm basically trying to work out how much stamp duty I would be liable to pay under the following scenario. 

I own a house that I live in. I also own a rental property that I purchased last Dec, for which I paid £5,775 in stamp duty as an additional property. Let's say I decide to move house and purchase a house worth £250,000, and sell the house I live (my main residence). As it means I would be selling my main residence within 3 years of purchasing the rental, I can claim back the additional stamp duty I paid (£4,965). I would then have to pay additional stamp duty on the new main home as I would still own a property, and so would pay £10,000 in stamp duty (I'm assuming this would be after March 31st so haven't taken the stamp duty holiday into account).

Is this correct? I'm assuming there wouldn't be a distinction in the amount I'd have to pay despite the fact I would be buying and selling a main home, rather than purchasing a buy-to-let. 

Cheers

greatcrested

Robster88 said:

.... Let's say I decide to move house and purchase a house worth £250,000, and sell the house I live (my main residence).

Simltaneously? No additional SDLT.

As it means I would be selling my main residence within 3 years of purchasing the rental, I can claim back the additional stamp duty I paid (£4,965).

If you buy first, thus owning 3 properties, you'd pay the additional 3%.

If you later sell the 1st property (your current main home) within 3 years (now extended a bit- Covid), you could claim the 3% back.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual

Robster88

greatcrested said:

Robster88 said:

.... Let's say I decide to move house and purchase a house worth £250,000, and sell the house I live (my main residence).

Simltaneously? No additional SDLT.

As it means I would be selling my main residence within 3 years of purchasing the rental, I can claim back the additional stamp duty I paid (£4,965).

If you buy first, thus owning 3 properties, you'd pay the additional 3%.

If you later sell the 1st property (your current main home) within 3 years (now extended a bit- Covid), you could claim the 3% back.

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual

Thanks. That makes sense. It seems I was mistaken so it was worth clarifying.

Just so I have it clear in my head..if the order of transactions is that I simultaneously buy and sell a new main home, I won't pay any additional stamp duty on that transaction. I also would not claim back any of the stamp duty I paid when purchasing the property purchased in Dec last year (as I'm immediately replacing the main home)?

If however I were to sell my main home without purchasing another home straight away, how would that change things? Let's say I sold my main home, rented somewhere for 6 months, and then bought a new home. Would that end up costing more in stamp duty overall? 

allconnected

No -  you’ve got three years to sell an old main residence and buy a new one to benefit from the replacement exemption from the higher rates. 

Your rental property is pretty much irrelevant in these circumstances. 

SDLT_Geek

Robster88 said:

Just so I have it clear in my head..if the order of transactions is that I simultaneously buy and sell a new main home, I won't pay any additional stamp duty on that transaction. 
Correct, the extra 3% will not apply, because you count as "replacing" your main residence.
I also would not claim back any of the stamp duty I paid when purchasing the property purchased in Dec last year (as I'm immediately replacing the main home)?
You will never be able to reclaim the extra 3% paid on your December purchase, because you did not buy that property intending to live in it as your only or main home.
If however I were to sell my main home without purchasing another home straight away, how would that change things? Let's say I sold my main home, rented somewhere for 6 months, and then bought a new home. Would that end up costing more in stamp duty overall? 

I agree with allconnected, you have three years within which to complete the purchase of a new home.  The three years starts from the earlier of you moving out of your present home and you selling your present home.

AnotherJoe

Just to add to what allconnected wrote, and to emphasise that the rental is irrelevant, you won't be able to claim back the extra you paid when you bought the rental even if you sold the rental, and same applies if you sold your main residence and moved into a rental for a while  (even if it was your current rental). 
The extra you paid when you bought the rental is gone and can't be reclaimed.
As for replacing your main residence, yep you have three years to reclaim the extra youd  pay if you found yourself with just the BTL you own for a while, and then bought a new main residence. 

greatcrested

The 3 years can be extended in exceptional circumstances. See

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/stamp-duty-land-tax-apply-for-a-repayment-of-the-higher-rates-for-additional-properties