Hello all!
Me again (if you were part of the previous thread about our impending purchase!) you were all so wise and helpful I thought I would ask for your advice again!
Well we exchanged a few weeks back and we are completing on Friday (finally)! Today our solicitor emailed me to confirm the balance required to complete including SDLT.
Now, I had 2 conversations (which I remember vividly) with the solicitor at the beginning of everything about SDLT. As the house and land are on separate title deeds and are being purchased separately he confirmed to me that there would be no SDLT payable on the land just on the house.
Today he said to me that we should be paying SDLT on the whole lot and then applying to HMRC for a refund of the SDLT overpayment on the field! He’s also backtracking and saying that he “would never have explicitly said that” (but he bloody did!)
He has said that it is a self assessed tax so we could not pay it on the field but if HMRC came back to us and deemed it payable we would be liable for it, plus interest, plus fines. So we should pay it then retrospectively reclaim it (honestly I’m so fed up now I could bloody scream) Anyway!
Oh wise property gurus anyone have any advice or experience? It’s a few grand (which after forking out an extra amount for the land due to the previous issue (see previous thread) I hadn’t anticipated (because the solicitor bloody told me it wasn’t due!)
Thanks x