Stamp duty query - when furniture is bought with the house. Any knowledgeable tax folks?

[BerylStreep]

I'm hoping someone knowledgeable about tax matters might be able to help me.

We are buying a house, and we have agreed with the vendors that the purchase price includes all furniture, carpets, blinds, curtains & freestanding white goods.

I know that you can deduct the cost of these items from the purchase price for stamp duty purposes, but does anyone know what is a reasonable way of estimating the cost of the items, which will be acceptable to HMRC?

I have a full inventory, and I was thinking of putting a 'new' price against each item, then using a figure of 40% of the overall total for the price, to account for it being second hand.

I have had a look online, and I can't find any advice. Grateful for any pointers.

Is it not possible to purchase the house for X and separately purchase the goods for Y? We did that but it was a while ago.

We were bidding against another party, and they had started the bidding on the basis that the purchase price included furniture (it is a holiday home). When the sale was agreed with us, I had suggested to the estate agent that we might try to separate out the purchase price from the furniture, however he wasn't keen. I think he was concerned the other party might come back with the accusation that our bid wasn't real.

Hence we are stuck with the purchase price we have, but I know we can deduct the price of furniture etc for stamp duty purposes. It's just trying to find out an acceptable way of doing it.

I suspect that the EA won't want it done separately as he is on a percentage of the purchase price. In my experience, it's quite normal to offer a separate amount for named fixtures and fittings. Can you speak directly to the owner?

YY Hereward.

And now the other party has lost out, the same money but structured differently shouldn't be an issue.

FWIW, our vendors left carpet and curtains for free and we wrote them a cheque for things they would otherwise have taken like fireplace.

What herewood said.
Its perfectly acceptable to buy the furniture as a different transaction but the estate agents commisson would go down.
I'd speak directly to the vendors.

I think what you suggest seems fair.

It really has nothing to do with the Estate Agent. Neither party to the transaction needs their permission.

We bought a furnished holiday home last year and paid X for the house and Y for the furniture/furnishings. A full inventory was made in case it was queried. We arranged this direct with the vendor as the purchase of furnishings benefited us both. As long as the final figure is the same I don't see the problem. We paid them Y on the day in person.