Stamp Duty when Owning other Property

dingo

I am aware that there are stamp duty surcharge requirements if additional property is owned. My wife owns property which is rented and we do not own a residential property at the moment. I wanted to put a new purchase of a resdential property in my own name to avoid the stamp duty surcharge. My conveyencer said that a marred couple were couted as a unit so it would not change things (she admits to beng a trainee and not a tax adviser). My accountant also said he thinks that a married couple are considered an individual although says that stamp duty is not his area of expertise.

Is a married couple counted as an individual does anyone know?

Does anyone know a way to avoid this surcharge. We are considering sellng the rental property in any case.

kingstreet

What you have been told is correct. The unit is going from one property owned to two, so the surcharge is payable.

If you sell the rental and go from one to one, or nought to one, it won't.

MobileSaver

dingo said:

Is a married couple counted as an individual does anyone know?

Does anyone know a way to avoid this surcharge. We are considering sellng the rental property in any case.

Yes, a married couple is considered as one unit for stamp duty purposes.

The way to avoid the surcharge is to either divorce the wife or sell the rental property before buying your new property.

p00hsticks

kingstreet said:

What you have been told is correct. The unit is going from one property owned to two, so the surcharge is payable.

If you sell the rental and go from one to one, or nought to one, it won't.

Although I think you may need to sell the rental first -  you'd pay a surcharge on purchasing a new property while still owning it, and as it's not your current main residence I'm not sure if you'd later be able to claim that back when you sold it as you would if you had been living in it. 

user1977

dingo said:

My wife owns property which is rented and we do not own a residential property at the moment.

Is the rented property a residential property? If so then you do own residential property (albeit not one you reside in).

SDLT_Geek

dingo said:

I am aware that there are stamp duty surcharge requirements if additional property is owned. My wife owns property which is rented and we do not own a residential property at the moment. I wanted to put a new purchase of a resdential property in my own name to avoid the stamp duty surcharge. My conveyencer said that a marred couple were couted as a unit so it would not change things (she admits to beng a trainee and not a tax adviser). My accountant also said he thinks that a married couple are considered an individual although says that stamp duty is not his area of expertise.

Is a married couple counted as an individual does anyone know?

Does anyone know a way to avoid this surcharge. We are considering sellng the rental property in any case.

I do not usually like the formulation of a "married couple is treated as a single unit" for stamp duty land tax, but in this case that is a useful shorthand.

So yes, the extra 3% will apply to a purchase by you alone if:

(a) at the time of the purchase your wife still owns the let property (and it is worth £40K or more)

(b)  there is not another property which you or your wife sold / disposed of which she lived in as her only or main residence within the last three years.

Selling the let property afterwards would not entitle you to a refund of the extra 3% unless:

(i)  Your wife had lived in it as her only or main residence within the three years before your upcoming purchase and

(ii)  She sells the let property within three years after completion of your upcoming purchase.

Grumpy_chap

This was asked very recently:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6512933/loss-of-stamp-duty-discount-for-married-couples/p1