House with annex. Overpaid stamp duty?

[thisusernameun]

We moved house last year to a house with an annex which had been rented out. We no longer rent it out. We are now receivibg letters saying we might have overpaid our stamp duty and to apply with a no win no fee company. Does anyone know anything about this? Our house was £800k and we paid £30k. Has anyone been through this

Sounds like the correct amount of stamp duty for that value of house to me! Tbh I don’t see how one can overpay stamp duty given that it’s calculated by the solicitor/land registry

That is what I don't understand. But we keep getting letters and looking online there is something about multiple dwelling relief so I was wondering if anyone else has had this

I'd contact the solicitor who did the purchase for you.

Is the annexe classed as a separate dwelling for tax purposes? Do you pay council tax on it?

Unlikely. Sounds like a bit of a scam to me.

@NatyoCheese it is liable for council tax. We currently have an exemption on it

Then yes, you’ve likely overpaid your stamp duty.
Multiple dwelling relief will take the value of both properties (your house and the annexe) find the average and then divide by 2 and calculate the stamp duty on each. There should be a calculation online you can use to see if it’s worth reclaiming.

I think you should’ve paid £20k stamp duty (£800k / 2 properties = £400k, £10k SDLT due x2 = £20k) so would be £10k in it for you but it’s been a while since I looked into these.

Thanks @NatyoCheese that makes sense based on what I read. Might try and apply. Will see

Hello, we had this and yes you can reclaim from HMRC. I was advised to write to them. Don't put please could you see if we are entitled to multiple dwelling relief as this is classed as a query and they will decline to help. Just say we have paid x amount, should have been y, please refund the difference. They took ages and requested some paperwork but we have had a cheque for £10k - very worthwhile. Ours is not classed separately for council tax and I am slightly concerned that thsi would trigger a reevaluation but so far so good. And cost the price of 2 stamps so definitely do it yourself.

Thanks. Will try and see. That is what I was thinking that I would try myself rather than use the companies that are messaging us

Multiple dwelling relief will take the value of both properties (your house and the annexe) find the average and then divide by 2 and calculate the stamp duty on each. There should be a calculation online you can use to see if it’s worth reclaiming.

This is correct. Wouldn’t use a no win, no fee outfit - phone HMRC and ask them directly.

How the hell did your solicitor not know about this?