A niche SDLT question.

silvercar

(posting for a colleague)

A married couple A & B owned their own home. For historic reasons it was always in the sole name of A. They then decided to move to another part of the country, due to work commitments B moved first with the intention that A follows a few months later.

B moves into a doer-upper. The property is in the name of B alone. As A and B are married B pays the higher SDLT rate on the purchase.

A then decides that they don’t want to move to a new location and are staying put. The marriage then breaks down. Each have a property in their own name and other finances will be decided as the divorce progresses.

Can B reclaim the higher SDLT as the couple are now separated? Arguably they separated when B moved, though only A may have thought that was permanent. There is obv nothing in writing either way at that time.

Or is B relying on A deciding to move home and sell what was the joint marital home within 3 years of B buying in order to be eligible for claiming the tax back? So B’s claim would be subject to a decision by A that they have no input to.

(Both properties are in England.)

SDLT_Geek

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6655994/a-niche-sdlt-question

It seems to me that evidentially it will be very difficult to show that A and B were separated in circumstances likely to be permanent at the point at which B bought. It does not fit the narrative at all. Had that been the case, B should not have paid the higher SDLT rate at the time of B's purchase.

A later separation does not give B a right to a refund of the extra SDLT.

As you say, for B to be entitled to a refund of the extra SDLT would depend on a number of factors:

(a) A selling A's property within three years of B's purchase.

(b) The evidence showing (as seems to be the case) that at the date of B's purchase, A intended to live in that property as A's only or main residence (even though the intention has changed since).