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Original poster

I don't wish to pay Second home stamp Duty surcharge. What options do I have?

56 replies

BroglieBoy · 04/08/2023 17:17

Is there any way I can avoid paying second home stamp duty?
Can I ask the solicitors to not declare that I am a second home buyer?

I am looking to buy a second home which will be my main residence. I have a buy-to-let property which I want to sell but I can't, as I am in negative equity.

I know that if I sell the first property within three years I can request for a stamp duty refund but I doubt if I can sell the property without making a huge loss within the next three years.

I am happy to take a small loss( say 20K to 30K ) and sell the first property but unfortunately, our situation is such that it will be a big loss in excess of 60K.

Thanks

OP posts:
Whataretheodds · 04/08/2023 19:04

BobstarSunny · 04/08/2023 17:33

There is a way around the second home stamp duty, but it depends on your circumstances as to whether you qualify. An example of how it works:

You own a house, your partner owns a house. You move in together and live in one main residence and the second residence is rented out. You sell your main residence that you both live in and when you replace that with your new purchase, you don't pay additional stamp duty, even though you still have the second home. You have to be married/civil partners to do it. You can keep the second home.

If you are the owner of two houses then you wouldn't qualify for the main residence exemption.

I only know this because my husband and I were in the scenario I've described as we both had houses before we met each other. We got married to avoid a very high stamp duty bill (we were going to anyway, but it pushed us to do it quicker) and his mum lived (for free) in the second home.

How do you deal with this on a tax return?

ClematisBlue49 · 04/08/2023 19:10

As others have said, there is no way to avoid paying the tax. If you have spare cash and sufficient earnings, you might want to consider offsetting the liability by making or increasing pension contributions, on which you would receive tax relief at your marginal rate.

ShinyYellowTeapot · 04/08/2023 19:11

Bartleby The Scrivener Tax Evader 😆

jesterrone · 04/08/2023 20:13

I avoided second home stamp duty as I had my main residence and a BTL (bought before the extra stamp duty was charged). Sold my main residence and bought a new main residence. As I was replacing my main residence no extra tax was payable even though I still have a BTL. I did this as a single homeowner, so having a spouse isn't necessary, but you need to have owned a separate main residence from the BTL.

Mummyoflittledragon · 05/08/2023 08:53

jesterrone · 04/08/2023 20:13

I avoided second home stamp duty as I had my main residence and a BTL (bought before the extra stamp duty was charged). Sold my main residence and bought a new main residence. As I was replacing my main residence no extra tax was payable even though I still have a BTL. I did this as a single homeowner, so having a spouse isn't necessary, but you need to have owned a separate main residence from the BTL.

Yes, that’s because you don’t pay the extra SDLT on a PPR.

Whataretheodds · 06/08/2023 11:40

jesterrone · 04/08/2023 20:13

I avoided second home stamp duty as I had my main residence and a BTL (bought before the extra stamp duty was charged). Sold my main residence and bought a new main residence. As I was replacing my main residence no extra tax was payable even though I still have a BTL. I did this as a single homeowner, so having a spouse isn't necessary, but you need to have owned a separate main residence from the BTL.

But presumably this isn't an option available to people who didn't own main residence and bTL before the 2nd home stamp duty rule came in?

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