How do I make sure stamp duty is paid?

coltegal43

Hi, basically wondering if it would be possible to phone up HMRC to get confirmation that our stamp duty is duly paid? We have a house purchase to be completed next week and our solicitor has been the absolute worst - ignoring emails, not returning calls, and they've made a number of serious errors in the amount of deposit to be paid, the stamp duty to be paid etc., so we don't really trust them anymore to pay our stamp duty within the time limit. Wanted to see if there's a way we can get HMRC to confirm so at least we can keep chasing our lawyer if it's not paid. Alternatively, does anyone have experience paying their own stamp duty without going through their conveyancing solicitor? 

parcival

If Stamp duty is due then the solicitor will deal with it. Make sure it's on your completion statement and correct - if so then nothing for you to worry about.

davidmcn

If they fail to pay it on time then they'll be on the hook for the penalties/interest - and given that's money out of their pocket, I suspect they'll be more interested in making sure it's paid on time than in the level of service they're providing to you.

If you're buying with a mortgage then dealing with the SDLT yourself isn't an option.

coltegal43

Thanks both! Good to know. 

Irishpearce26

If you want send me the money and ill make sure its paid...

pinkteapot

As above, your solicitor will handle it. However, if they've been that inept I would check the completion statement very carefully, and check that the amount shown on it for stamp duty is correct. You they pay the money to the solicitor and they are responsible for making payment. 

hazyjo

You'd have to be very unlucky for them not to pay it.

Not to say it hasn't happened before though. I used solicitors who had staff who were basically scamming and pocketing the stamp duty. Was the same bloody year I used them too!

If you want to ring, ring. I haven't done since nearly being scammed, but certainly wouldn't blame anyone else for being cautious.

frogglet

Ours was calculated wrongly on our completion statement due to an oversight of late reduction in price.
But they send it to you for you  to check. 
If you are concerned , ask the solicitor for the payment reference number.

R3dders

Our solicitor didn't complete the stamp duty payment correctly and we received a penalty for late payment.  We then discovered that they hadn't completed the land registry process.  We asked them to pay the penalty which they eventually did.  If you've had problems with the solicitors I would try and ensure that both these issues are completed correctly.

powerful_Rogue

We completed on our purchase in December. Was still in the process of selling out current house which didn't happen till February.

The solicitor never took for stamp duty when we completed. So it seems like it does happen.

coltegal43

R3dders said:

Our solicitor didn't complete the stamp duty payment correctly and we received a penalty for late payment.  We then discovered that they hadn't completed the land registry process.  We asked them to pay the penalty which they eventually did.  If you've had problems with the solicitors I would try and ensure that both these issues are completed correctly.

 Thanks so much for this - that's what I am afraid of! I'll keep chasing our solicitor to make sure they do their flippin job.