Is stamp duty payable?

[user120405]

If we were to transfer our house (jointly owned as joint tenants) into my sole name?

It's our main house. No mortgage.

Does anyone know? My googling seems to suggest maybe not because we don't have a mortgage on the house.

bump

I don't know, but it might make a difference what the relationship is between you - are you married?

Technically, you're buying the other half of the house. Does the value of the half of the house you're buying meet the criteria for stamp duty?

We are married and yes if I was just buying a property worth half of the value of the house, stamp duty would be payable,

No money is changing hands though.

No. I did this. You just need to get it signed over officially with a solicitor.

thats helpful thanks

HMRC page - there's a few scenarios on here.

You'll have to get a solicitor to deal with the transfer, etc, but they aren't always correct when it comes to SDLT. My ex bought me out of a property we owned together and the solicitor told us stamp duty didn't apply, then it turned out it did, right at the last minute. I ended up having to go halves with my ex just to get the deal done.

typically that doesn't seem to cover our situation

Married and not going to be divorcing
No mortgage
Joint tenants
house more than double the stamp duty threshold
no money changing hands

I think you're fine then. Just make it clear that the transfer is a gift, then SDLT isn't payable:

"If you get property as a gift you'll not pay Stamp Duty Land Tax as long as there's no outstanding mortgage on it."