SDLT on joint property to be paid twice?

[Iza82]

Hello, before marriage myself and my partner we owned a property each. That time we were first time buyers. Now, when we are married, my husband and I jointly bought a property together. This is considered our 2nd home and when purchasing we paid the higher 5% tax (around 9k). Now 2 months after completion (when the land registry is being updated) a letter came to my name only asking for additional payment of exactly same amount we already paid. My thoughts: 1. Is this a scam? Or, 2. Is this because each of us owns a property and now we pay SDLT twice from each of us 5% (2x 9k). If I'm correct why this was not charged straight and never explained by solicitor. Is this because we put both names 50:50 in land registry? Can we put one of our names to avoid that second payment as I do not have suddenly 9k?

Just ask your solicitor. Doesn’t sound right.

Check whether your conveyancer has paid the SDLT. Did you agree they would complete the form (for a fee) or was it something you were supposed to do? Were you selling in order to buy and did you provide the funds for the stamp duty? Check your completion statement.

Sounds like the solicitor has neglected to pay the Stamp Duty, or someone has made an administrative error resulting in the payment not being correctly associated with your purchase. It is only due once.

What was purchase price of second property? Presumably £180000

We haven't sold any of our properties that each of us own. The joint property price was 180k. We instructed our solicitor both our names will be on land registry. The money been paid to the solicitor while purchasing. The letter we received states: I have received Land Transaction Return from you relating to the above property for which you have assessed tax of £9k. An additional payment of £9k is due.
An additional payment sounds to me like they ask me to pay that again. It is only my name in the letter, not both our names.

You only pay it per house - not per person.
Ring the solicitor on Monday.

Okay so that sounds as though the form has been filled in incorrectly or the form has been submitted and HMRC can't match it to the fee paid and the letter is badly worded. Call the conveyancer on Monday. You could also call HMRC for clarification but they usually take ages to answer the phone. If you do, find the telephone number on the HMRC website, don't use any numbers on the letter in case it's a scam. I work in a job where we are currently paying stamp duty regularly and we make payments then email HMRC with the form required and matching details.