Stamp Duty Refund from HMRC

ajitsingh333

I need some help to understand if we can reclaim the 3% surcharge paid when we bought our current house which is our primary residence. 
So, we bought our first house in 2008 which was our primary residence. Between 2008 and 2018 we bought 2 additional properties for investment which were buy to let and had the mortgages as buy to let. We still own these properties and they have been rented out from the day we purchased them. 

In April 2019 we sold our primary residence and moved to rental accommodation. In April 2020 we bought our house to make it our primary residence. The solicitor advised us to pay 3% extra which was £13,500 in addition to the stamp duty for the purchase price of £450,000. So, in total we paid £26,000 stamp duty. 

However, I have now realised after reading some clarification about the 3% surcharge on second properties that we should not have paid the 3% surcharge as we had sold our primary residence and that we were not buying the house as a second property but as our primary residence. I have all the proofs to prove the house we sold in 2019 was our primary and only residence and similarly the house we bought in 2020 is our sole and primary residence. 

I tried to claim the 3% back from HMRC SLDT website. However, it does not let me enter the details to process the claim as the sale date has to be after the purchase date. 

So my questions, if you could kindly help. Did the solicitor give us wrong advice to pay 3% extra and we should have not paid the surcharge? Can we claim the 3% paid as surcharge from HMRC?

Many Thanks 
Ajit 

SDLT_Geek

It sounds as if the 3% should not have been paid in the first place.  That means that the online form is not the way to claim it back.  You claim it back by "amending" your return by letter to HMRC.  This should be done within 12 months and 14 days of completion.  Perhaps your conveyancer will do it for you.