Stamp Duty Advice

When purchasing a piece of land or property, the general practice is for purchasers’ to have a conveyance solicitor complete the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) return, rather than seeking specialist Stamp Duty advice. The result is they often end up overpaying to HRMC due to inexperienced and unaware solicitors making incorrect assumptions concerning SDLT assessments.

To ensure that you pay the correct amount of SDLT, you should seek specialists Stamp Duty advice from a tax expert. Our advisers can review your circumstance to include any exemptions, discounts or reliefs that might apply to you, guaranteeing that only pay the legally required amount.

Specialist Stamp Duty Advice

It is vitally important to get specialist tax advice regarding Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) because:

• SDLT is one of the most complex and most often amended pieces of tax legislation on the UK statute book.

• Solicitors, lawyers, conveyancers and agents are NOT tax specialists and as a result, have repeatedly made incorrect assumptions regarding a property purchase leading to erroneous SDLT payments being made.

• SDLT tax specialists fully understand ALL the latest legislation, exemptions, exceptions and reliefs to ensure the correct amount of SDLT is paid.

• SDLT is a self-assessment tax; it is the purchasers’ legal responsibility to ensure it is correctly calculated and paid on time.

• HMRC do NOT provide specific SDLT advice, and their online SDLT calculator has many serious shortcomings.
HMRC have recently had to admit publicly that the SDLT calculator is there to serve as a “mere guide”, and cannot be relied upon to ensure correct SDLT calculation.