Avoid higher stamp duty on 2nd home

Noodles_33

I currently own a property which is rented out on consent to lease and I moved in with my partner who also owns a property. I was under the impression after a previous post, that if we were to marry, this would then class his property as both of our main residence. We plan to sell his property and buy a new joint residential home and are trying to avoid paying the higher stamp duty if possible. It would save us £20,000. 

We spoke to a mortgage advisor yesterday who said even if we were to marry, that we would still be eligible for the higher stamp duty. However I have been informed differently through my own research. 

It seems to be a very grey area, who would I need to speak to in order to get a more black and white answer? Has anyone successfully achieved this through marriage? 

Noodles_33

I currently own a property which is rented out on consent to lease and I moved in with my partner who also owns a property. I was under the impression after a previous post, that if we were to marry, this would then class his property as both of our main residence. We plan to sell his property and buy a new joint residential home and are trying to avoid paying the higher stamp duty if possible. It would save us £20,000. 

We spoke to a mortgage advisor yesterday who said even if we were to marry, that we would still be eligible for the higher stamp duty. However I have been informed differently through my own research. 

It seems to be a very grey area, who would I need to speak to in order to get a more black and white answer? Has anyone successfully achieved this through marriage? 

ACG

Your conveyancer, they are the ones who fill out the stamp duty paperwork. Dont be afraid to question them though if you think they are wrong. Its not uncommon for people to just go with the easy route. 

You could also try the gov calculator - https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#!/intro

Flugelhorn

definitely query it - it is meant to be that if you are replacing your home / main property with another home / main property then you don't pay it. 

Brie

duplicate thread - getting them merged.

user1977

Noodles_33 said:

We spoke to a mortgage advisor yesterday who said even if we were to marry, that we would still be eligible for the higher stamp duty. However I have been informed differently through my own research. 

It seems to be a very grey area, who would I need to speak to in order to get a more black and white answer? Has anyone successfully achieved this through marriage? 

There's nothing grey about it, just one person is right and one is wrong (the latter being your mortgage advisor).

HMRC's guidance is here (though I think you're asking us whether you should marry for tax reasons, which may be a different question in some ways).

Noodles_33

user1977 said:

Noodles_33 said:

We spoke to a mortgage advisor yesterday who said even if we were to marry, that we would still be eligible for the higher stamp duty. However I have been informed differently through my own research. 

It seems to be a very grey area, who would I need to speak to in order to get a more black and white answer? Has anyone successfully achieved this through marriage? 

There's nothing grey about it, just one person is right and one is wrong (the latter being your mortgage advisor).

HMRC's guidance is here (though I think you're asking us whether you should marry for tax reasons, which may be a different question in some ways).

Thanks for the link, it does appear then if we married that his place would be classed as our main residence. I also meet all the criteria, as I am on the voters poll and have all my addresses for my insurance to this address. 

The mortgage advisor was so adamant that I was wrong, they even reached out to their solicitor friend who also said I was wrong. 

This gives me some clarification, I will email my conveyancer on Monday and see if I can get it confirmed. We plan to marry anyway and have a child together. 

Hoenir

Worth noting. 

HMRC has not given any guidance about how long a taxpayer must live in a property for that to constitute actual occupation as their only or main residence. Instead, it will look at the individual facts and circumstances of each case.

The HMRC are therefore best equipped to provide you with definative advice. 

_Penny_Dreadful

Hoenir said:

Worth noting. 

HMRC has not given any guidance about how long a taxpayer must live in a property for that to constitute actual occupation as their only or main residence. Instead, it will look at the individual facts and circumstances of each case.

The HMRC are therefore best equipped to provide you with definative advice. 

HMRC doesn’t provide tax advice. 

HMRC rules are that a married couple can only have one main residence. This is clearly where the OP and their soon-to-be spouse live as neither is residing anywhere else. 

The mortgage broker is wrong and shouldn’t be giving out tax advice, and by the sounds of things, neither should their solicitor friend. 

The HMRC manual even gives an example of this exact scenario and states the higher rate doesn’t apply. 

https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm09810

silvercar

I agree with others, once you marry, your home is counted as both your principal private residence. If you want to avoid a slither of doubt in the minds of others, you could transfer the home into joint names before selling it. Transfers between spouses don’t incur any CGT, though you would need the lender’s agreement.

user1977

Hoenir said:

Worth noting. 

HMRC has not given any guidance about how long a taxpayer must live in a property for that to constitute actual occupation as their only or main residence. Instead, it will look at the individual facts and circumstances of each case.

The HMRC are therefore best equipped to provide you with definative advice. 

Given the OP hasn't suggested that they have any other residence, I'm not sure there's room for dubiety about it here.