SDLT Mitigation schemes.......buy cheap, buy twice!
Discussion
Completed on the current house in April 2010.
Just got a letter from HMRC telling us the conveyancing firm we used has ceased trading following action from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and they are now carrying out a review of the SDLT returns submitted by the firm on behalf of their clients.
It then states "we will contact you in the next few weeks if we need to check any part of your SDLT return".....
It's in the distant past but I've still got the solicitor email exchanges of me querying this as I didn't understand what the chuff it was all about. Essentially instead of paying circa £1500 to the HMRC in SDLT we paid a fee of £700 to the firm who then assured me they were implementing a scheme that somehow circumvented payment of SDLT and that after a period of 9 months it could be assumed it was successful.....whatever that means. 3+ years have passed and this was a distant memory.
If it's too good to be true and all that!!....
So it looks like my christmas present from HMRC may well be a bill for £1500+ interest + whatever else they deem necessary.
Just thought I share in case anyone else is contemplating using an apparently cheap conveyancing firm.....think twice.
Just got a letter from HMRC telling us the conveyancing firm we used has ceased trading following action from the Solicitors Regulation Authority and they are now carrying out a review of the SDLT returns submitted by the firm on behalf of their clients.
It then states "we will contact you in the next few weeks if we need to check any part of your SDLT return".....
It's in the distant past but I've still got the solicitor email exchanges of me querying this as I didn't understand what the chuff it was all about. Essentially instead of paying circa £1500 to the HMRC in SDLT we paid a fee of £700 to the firm who then assured me they were implementing a scheme that somehow circumvented payment of SDLT and that after a period of 9 months it could be assumed it was successful.....whatever that means. 3+ years have passed and this was a distant memory.
If it's too good to be true and all that!!....
So it looks like my christmas present from HMRC may well be a bill for £1500+ interest + whatever else they deem necessary.
Just thought I share in case anyone else is contemplating using an apparently cheap conveyancing firm.....think twice.
Not anything I know/knew anything about. It was offered to us by the case handling solicitor so I assumed that if it wasn't above board it was at least compliant with the law.
Not unsurprisingly, they have ceased trading
http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/solicitor-check/53...
Not unsurprisingly, they have ceased trading
http://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/solicitor-check/53...
There is a fair chance that HMRC will levy a fine too, especially as you will have signed the SDLT return.
I buy land every week of the year, spending millions, trust me, if there was a legitimate way to reduce SDLT we would do it. There isn't and we don't. My SDLT bill this year amounts to £1.6m.
I buy land every week of the year, spending millions, trust me, if there was a legitimate way to reduce SDLT we would do it. There isn't and we don't. My SDLT bill this year amounts to £1.6m.
blueg33 said:
There is a fair chance that HMRC will levy a fine too, especially as you will have signed the SDLT return.
I buy land every week of the year, spending millions, trust me, if there was a legitimate way to reduce SDLT we would do it. There isn't and we don't. My SDLT bill this year amounts to £1.6m.
A few years ago there used to be ways to mitigate the bill for substantial transactions, however, anti-avoidance legislation is now much stronger. I buy land every week of the year, spending millions, trust me, if there was a legitimate way to reduce SDLT we would do it. There isn't and we don't. My SDLT bill this year amounts to £1.6m.
Coco H said:
blueg33 said:
There is a fair chance that HMRC will levy a fine too, especially as you will have signed the SDLT return.
I buy land every week of the year, spending millions, trust me, if there was a legitimate way to reduce SDLT we would do it. There isn't and we don't. My SDLT bill this year amounts to £1.6m.
A few years ago there used to be ways to mitigate the bill for substantial transactions, however, anti-avoidance legislation is now much stronger. I buy land every week of the year, spending millions, trust me, if there was a legitimate way to reduce SDLT we would do it. There isn't and we don't. My SDLT bill this year amounts to £1.6m.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
It was Abode Solicitors Lts trading as Arc Property Solicitorshttp://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/solicitor-check/53...
I assume that given the above there is nobody to chase and I'm quite possibly a bit fooked. I may ring the number on the letter and try to determine what action is likely to be taken.
Just what you need at Christmas, ha. You live and learn.
KTF said:
I would drop your trousers, bend over and prepare for the worst.
If it doesn't happen, then consider yourself lucky.
I may not ring the number then and hope for the best.If it doesn't happen, then consider yourself lucky.
Looks like I've been somewhat hoodwinked. What an utter
!I assume my options are limited to either
a). Hope I don't get another HMRC letter
b). Get ready to pay up
Do the HMRC do monthly installments? They're a friendly bunch aren't they?
Apologies for the hijack OP, but as there's a few experts on here I have a question.
About seven years ago (so i have a hazy memory of the event hence my question) I bought a 2 acre field adjacent to my house for £20k.
I remember my solicitor (sadly now dead) having to send an application to HMRC to defer SDLT payment.
This was successful, but can you tell me at what point would this tax have to be paid, and what percentage?
Is it paid on the price I paid for the land (£20k) or on future overage in value?
I had to have a valuer put a value on the land as if we had had planning permission (unlikely to happen any time soon as its on green belt but within the village boundary, but you never know..) and he valued it at £1m.
I remember arguing at the time that surely the value is only what I paid for it - no more and no less.
Thanks.
About seven years ago (so i have a hazy memory of the event hence my question) I bought a 2 acre field adjacent to my house for £20k.
I remember my solicitor (sadly now dead) having to send an application to HMRC to defer SDLT payment.
This was successful, but can you tell me at what point would this tax have to be paid, and what percentage?
Is it paid on the price I paid for the land (£20k) or on future overage in value?
I had to have a valuer put a value on the land as if we had had planning permission (unlikely to happen any time soon as its on green belt but within the village boundary, but you never know..) and he valued it at £1m.
I remember arguing at the time that surely the value is only what I paid for it - no more and no less.
Thanks.
Zyp's field sounds like it is subject to overage - so there may be an uplift payable at some point if he obtains planning consent, and that would trigger a further SDLT return and (potentially) payment.
If my deduction is correct, this will go away if no overage payment is ever due and the long stop date comes round.
If my deduction is correct, this will go away if no overage payment is ever due and the long stop date comes round.
We also used them 5 months ago, managed viewing to keys in 4 weeks including a solicitor change mid way through at ARC so felt they were competent but needed a solid foot on their neck to get things moving at a pace that suited me (warp 9...)
Also received said letter, but taking advice form family members (solicitors) was advised to stay clear of the stamp duty mitigation so hopefully we are in the clear. Good luck OP, still nervously seeing what happens next here!
Also received said letter, but taking advice form family members (solicitors) was advised to stay clear of the stamp duty mitigation so hopefully we are in the clear. Good luck OP, still nervously seeing what happens next here!
Just had this letter through too.
Have checked the paperwork and hopefully we were not signed into any kind of "avoidance scheme"
OP hope all works out for you and the revenue pursue the real crooks.Not that it will make much odds as they will still be wealthy when they should be spending 7 to 10 in A wing with Big Vern picking up his soap in the shower.
They were P****s with us when we used them,as we did a Px on a new house we figured we only needed basic conveyance, they phoned us up a week later to say that we needed to upgrade or they couldn't complete on time.
Have checked the paperwork and hopefully we were not signed into any kind of "avoidance scheme"
OP hope all works out for you and the revenue pursue the real crooks.Not that it will make much odds as they will still be wealthy when they should be spending 7 to 10 in A wing with Big Vern picking up his soap in the shower.
They were P****s with us when we used them,as we did a Px on a new house we figured we only needed basic conveyance, they phoned us up a week later to say that we needed to upgrade or they couldn't complete on time.
Interesting it's not just me then!
The crafty fvckers eh?
Rang the firm dealing with the SRA shutdown and was advised to just watch and wait, nothing else from HMRC just yet but it's early days. Obviously they will be waiting a bit so we get a demand for money in the last post before christmas day
I'm mentally prepared to receive some form of demand though; worst case it will be for the full amount + what we already paid the dodgy geezer + fines. Best case it'll be the full SDLT and we might be in a position to claim back the amount paid to dodgy geezer (£900 inc VAT) net result being we pay up the amount saved using this scheme.
We shall see anyway.
The crafty fvckers eh?
Rang the firm dealing with the SRA shutdown and was advised to just watch and wait, nothing else from HMRC just yet but it's early days. Obviously they will be waiting a bit so we get a demand for money in the last post before christmas day
I'm mentally prepared to receive some form of demand though; worst case it will be for the full amount + what we already paid the dodgy geezer + fines. Best case it'll be the full SDLT and we might be in a position to claim back the amount paid to dodgy geezer (£900 inc VAT) net result being we pay up the amount saved using this scheme.
We shall see anyway.
I would advise getting all paperwork together and in order. Reading the letter they sent us when I enquired about the schene they make it explicitly clear it is fully legal and not an issue from a fraud/avoidance point of view. They also explain they are professionally positioned to advice, though other lesser & riskier schemes are avaliable. I would plead that.
Happy to provide you a copy if you so require!
Happy to provide you a copy if you so require!
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff