Do I have to pay Stamp Duty?

normal

davidmcn said:

normal said:

The macman said:

Who gave you this advice?

The conveyancer. Even yesterday, when they were asking us to fill in the stamp duty form, they told us we didn't have to pay anything. It was only today we got told it was £9150! 

Did they already know about your existing properties?

I did say we were borrowing against them to pay for the home.

edit: They also knew yesterday when I asked them for advice on completing the stamp duty form. They told me to write down the property we own, and say we're not living at either.

oldbikebloke

normal said:

edit: They also knew yesterday when I asked them for advice on completing the stamp duty form. They told me to write down the property we own, and say we're not living at either.

so they told you to tell the truth, which is good.
Better that than pretend do you live in one of them, but even then you still fail the replacement test as you are selling nothing.

normal

oldbikebloke said:

normal said:

edit: They also knew yesterday when I asked them for advice on completing the stamp duty form. They told me to write down the property we own, and say we're not living at either.

so they told you to tell the truth, which is good.
Better that than pretend do you live in one of them, but even then you still fail the replacement test as you are selling nothing.

It's not the telling of the truth which concerns me. Even yesterday they were telling me we didn't have to pay stamp duty (and to declare the rental properties), and today they're saying we should. It's really ridiculous. It's not a small error.

gingercordial

normal said:

oldbikebloke said:

normal said:

edit: They also knew yesterday when I asked them for advice on completing the stamp duty form. They told me to write down the property we own, and say we're not living at either.

so they told you to tell the truth, which is good.
Better that than pretend do you live in one of them, but even then you still fail the replacement test as you are selling nothing.

It's not the telling of the truth which concerns me. Even yesterday they were telling me we didn't have to pay stamp duty (and to declare the rental properties), and today they're saying we should. It's really ridiculous. It's not a small error.

As long as your conveyancer definitely knew that (1) you both own other properties and (2) you do not own and so are not selling the property you actually live in, then it does sound like they told you the wrong thing previously.  That is very unfortunate and I would complain, but equally they may say you should have checked yourself.

That doesn't change the answer that you do have to pay the 3% additional rate SDLT.  If that's unaffordable for you, unfortunately you may not be able to buy this house.

By the way, why are you completing the SDLT form?  Our solicitor prepared that for us to sign (given I do SDLT returns for work, I supppse I could have done it myself, but I didn't tell them that and just reviewed it).  So that makes me think that perhaps you aren't having "full service" legal advice/conveyancing so they may not take responsibility for having told you anything.

wesleyad

normal said:

oldbikebloke said:

normal said:

edit: They also knew yesterday when I asked them for advice on completing the stamp duty form. They told me to write down the property we own, and say we're not living at either.

so they told you to tell the truth, which is good.
Better that than pretend do you live in one of them, but even then you still fail the replacement test as you are selling nothing.

It's not the telling of the truth which concerns me. Even yesterday they were telling me we didn't have to pay stamp duty (and to declare the rental properties), and today they're saying we should. It's really ridiculous. It's not a small error.

We had the same thing, owned a BTL, currently rented and were purchasing, whilst keeping the BTL. A pretty normal situation The conveyancer was 100% sure we didn't owe the extra 3%. I was 100% sure we did. She refused to take it as she knew best and was a professional. So I paid the basic rate (this was before the recent duty holiday).

Unsurprisingly got a phone call 3 days later from her boss explaining I owed more money. As you can imagine I wasn't impressed. Gave them some serious grief and they knocked some money off their bill, mainly through embarrassment at such a basic error.

normal

gingercordial said:

normal said:

oldbikebloke said:

normal said:

edit: They also knew yesterday when I asked them for advice on completing the stamp duty form. They told me to write down the property we own, and say we're not living at either.

so they told you to tell the truth, which is good.
Better that than pretend do you live in one of them, but even then you still fail the replacement test as you are selling nothing.

It's not the telling of the truth which concerns me. Even yesterday they were telling me we didn't have to pay stamp duty (and to declare the rental properties), and today they're saying we should. It's really ridiculous. It's not a small error.

As long as your conveyancer definitely knew that (1) you both own other properties and (2) you do not own and so are not selling the property you actually live in, then it does sound like they told you the wrong thing previously.  That is very unfortunate and I would complain, but equally they may say you should have checked yourself.

That doesn't change the answer that you do have to pay the 3% additional rate SDLT.  If that's unaffordable for you, unfortunately you may not be able to buy this house.

By the way, why are you completing the SDLT form?  Our solicitor prepared that for us to sign (given I do SDLT returns for work, I supppse I could have done it myself, but I didn't tell them that and just reviewed it).  So that makes me think that perhaps you aren't having "full service" legal advice/conveyancing so they may not take responsibility for having told you anything.

I'm not in the habit of buying property, so didn't really think much about being asked to complete the Stamp Duty form as it basically required us to tick a box, write the details mentioned, date and sign. 
It's frustrating to be told you don't have to pay something, and then you do at the very end. We're going to go ahead with the purchase, but it's cancelled our immediate plans to replace the bathroom. Not good, but we'll have to put up with it until we've saved up again.
I not sure it's worth making a formal complaint as I can't see it going anywhere. If I'd not paid the tax and HMRC had come back, then I certainly would have complained. But as things stand, I'm guessing they'd argue they gave me the correct advice (eventually). I'll just make sure that I leave an appropriate review for them online.

normal

wesleyad said:

normal said:

oldbikebloke said:

normal said:

edit: They also knew yesterday when I asked them for advice on completing the stamp duty form. They told me to write down the property we own, and say we're not living at either.

so they told you to tell the truth, which is good.
Better that than pretend do you live in one of them, but even then you still fail the replacement test as you are selling nothing.

It's not the telling of the truth which concerns me. Even yesterday they were telling me we didn't have to pay stamp duty (and to declare the rental properties), and today they're saying we should. It's really ridiculous. It's not a small error.

We had the same thing, owned a BTL, currently rented and were purchasing, whilst keeping the BTL. A pretty normal situation The conveyancer was 100% sure we didn't owe the extra 3%. I was 100% sure we did. She refused to take it as she knew best and was a professional. So I paid the basic rate (this was before the recent duty holiday).

Unsurprisingly got a phone call 3 days later from her boss explaining I owed more money. As you can imagine I wasn't impressed. Gave them some serious grief and they knocked some money off their bill, mainly through embarrassment at such a basic error.

wesleyad said:

normal said:

oldbikebloke said:

normal said:

edit: They also knew yesterday when I asked them for advice on completing the stamp duty form. They told me to write down the property we own, and say we're not living at either.

so they told you to tell the truth, which is good.
Better that than pretend do you live in one of them, but even then you still fail the replacement test as you are selling nothing.

It's not the telling of the truth which concerns me. Even yesterday they were telling me we didn't have to pay stamp duty (and to declare the rental properties), and today they're saying we should. It's really ridiculous. It's not a small error.

We had the same thing, owned a BTL, currently rented and were purchasing, whilst keeping the BTL. A pretty normal situation The conveyancer was 100% sure we didn't owe the extra 3%. I was 100% sure we did. She refused to take it as she knew best and was a professional. So I paid the basic rate (this was before the recent duty holiday).

Unsurprisingly got a phone call 3 days later from her boss explaining I owed more money. As you can imagine I wasn't impressed. Gave them some serious grief and they knocked some money off their bill, mainly through embarrassment at such a basic error.

Sorry to hear about your own situation. On the plus side, at least you knew in advance.