Stamp Duty Refund eligibility

mrjulesflo

Question about stamp duty refund

1. Married couple, lived in a residential London flat for x years. Husband was the only owner. December 2021, we took equity out of London flat to buy house and keep/rent out the London flat. At the same time added wife to both mortgages (residential+BTL). (Wife never owned a property before). However we never rented the London flat but decided to sell it instead and buy another flat closer to house. 

2. On house purchase , which is now our primary residential home , we obviously paid higher rate STLD.

3. Now selling flat in London.

4. And Buying a new flat for the same purpose - BTL. So will pay higher rate STLD again for the new flat purchase. 

Question:

Can we claim back the higher STLD paid from the house purchase once we complete the sale of London flat?

Many thanks for any answer, any info link would help 

jonnydeppiwish!

@SDLT_Geek will be along soon, but if you sell the flat first, reclaim the extra, then buy the new flat after you’ve reclaimed it, that should work

SDLT_Geek

mrjulesflo said:

Question about stamp duty refund

1. Married couple, lived in a residential London flat for x years. Husband was the only owner. December 2021, we took equity out of London flat to buy house and keep/rent out the London flat. At the same time added wife to both mortgages (residential+BTL). (Wife never owned a property before). However we never rented the London flat but decided to sell it instead and buy another flat closer to house. 

2. On house purchase , which is now our primary residential home , we obviously paid higher rate STLD.

3. Now selling flat in London.

4. And Buying a new flat for the same purpose - BTL. So will pay higher rate STLD again for the new flat purchase. 

Question:

Can we claim back the higher STLD paid from the house purchase once we complete the sale of London flat?

Many thanks for any answer, any info link would help 

From what you say, I would expect you to be able to reclaim the extra 3% paid on the house (your new home) when you sell the flat you had lived in (your old home).  You need to complete the sale of your old home within three years of completing the purchase of your new home. 

You will find the set of four conditions to meet (for where the sale of the old home is after the purchase of the new home) in the guidance here: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm09800