Did you check your stamp duty calculation was correct?

You don’t want to fall into the same trap as Angela Rayner and assume that the calculation of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) when you buy a property is correct

You will always be told to ensure that you have received tax advice and that the conveyancing solicitor is not a tax expert, yet most people just accept the calculation presented to them. It’s important to recognize that the role of a conveyancing solicitor is to handle the legal aspects of buying, selling, or transferring ownership of property, it is not their remit to ensure that you are tax compliant.  The onus is on the buyer to make sure that the stamp duty calculation is correct.

Angela Rayner was just one of many people for whom the calculation was incorrect. Stamp duty used to be a fairly straightforward tax to apply, but as the tax has evolved over recent governments, we now have surcharges to consider and apply as well as various reliefs and discounts. There is a lot of poor application of the mixed-use rates for stamp duty that provide relief, and whilst some of those are deliberately fraudulent, and HMRC is clamping down on that behaviour, others are as a result of not obtaining advice from experts.

I speak from experience, when I bought my house in London a few years ago, (that I have recently sold), I asked to check the calculation before it was filed and similar to the former deputy prime minister, my calculation was incorrect. I had the benefit of tax knowledge and was aware that a surcharge applied as I had not yet sold my home in Dorset. Thankfully I checked it and corrected it, but many people just accept the rate provided to them. In this case the surcharge in question is refundable under certain circumstances, and I knew to claim my refund, but if you haven’t received advice from a specialist would you know whether you can claim a refund?

This is another prime example of where it pays to get advice rather than getting it wrong, which is always more costly.

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