Stamp Duty Land Tax
VOA Mailbox for Electronic Plans or Schedules
The Valuation Office Agency has now established a mailbox for providing electronically any necessary plans or schedules for under/sub leases. Your e-mail should include the following information:
- the unique transaction reference number (see bottom of page 2 of SDLT1)
- the relevant local authority code (see field 29 on SDLT1)
- the National Land and Property Gazetteer Unique Property Reference Number (see field 31 on SDLT1)
- address and post code (where available)
Sensitive material should not be sent via e-mail.
Any enquiries about this service should be sent to Tony Capp at the VOA.
Pre-Budget Report
In his Pre-Budget Report on 24 November 2008 the Chancellor announced that the standard rate of VAT will be reduced to 15% on 1 December 2008.
Please click here for a statement released by HMRC on how it will affect calculation of SDLT for leases where VAT is included.
Edinburgh Stamp Office relocation
Please click here for information released by HMRC about the relocation of the Edinburgh Stamp Office, including details of potential disruption between Monday 8 and Friday 12 December while the stamping presses are moved.
Stamp Taxes Online
November 2008
Please click here for the latest update from HMRC, issued 18 November, regarding the recent disruptions to the online service.
Problem with online submissions confirmed
Further to the message below, we have been in contact with the Stamp Taxes Office in Birmingham and we have been advised that there have been ongoing problems with the online service further to the maintenance work carried out at the end of October. We have also been advised that submissions have most probably gone through and that the error is generated at the confirmation of receipt stage.
We have contacted the Edinburgh Stamp Office, which has confirmed that it will accept printouts of the online submission forms and will issue SDLT 5s over the counter for personal presentation cases. Edinburgh are also accepting faxes (0131 442 3038) and will send certificates out by post.
Problems with online submissions reported
Several firms have been reporting problems with online submissions. The Society has contacted HMRC to find out if there is a particular reason for this but has not yet received a response. If you are experiencing problems, please contact Katie Hay with details of what the problems are, whether or not there is an error message, etc.
SDLT 6 PDF
Following consultation with stakeholders, HMRC have taken the decision to remove the SDLT 6 pdf from their website from Friday 6 June. Speaking about this decision, Sheila Southwick from Birmingham's Customer Care Team noted that while this may be disappointing for some users, plans to update the website will ultimately make the service more effective and customer focused.
HMRC SDLT Calculator
It has been brought to our attention that the SDLT calculator produces inaccurate results in the following circumstances:
- where you are calculating the amount payable for a residential property and you enter a 'zero' into the non-residential box, this will produce an overall amount of 'zero'.
- where you enter an amount between 125,001 and 150,000 in the residential box and any amount in the non-residential box and the total figure adds up to £150,000 or less, this will produce an overall amount of 'zero'.
The solution to the first problem is simply to leave the non-residential box blank however the second problem cannot at this stage be overcome.
This has been brought to the attention of HMRC, who have informed us that a new calculator will soon be introduced, incorporating changes from the budget. Since these problems came to light, it has been tested and we have been assured that it does not produce these inaccuracies. They will inform us as soon as the new calculator is made available and in the meantime, they apologise for any inconvenience caused. Do not rely on the results produced by the SDLT Calculator until further notice.
SDLT 60s
HMRC has recently confirmed that SDLT 60s have been abolished for transactions with an effective date on or after budget day (12 March 2008) and no longer need to be sent to the Registers of Scotland.
Withdrawal of Priority Fax Service
For some time now, HMRC has provided a means of dealing with missing UTRNs by advising customers to use the Priority Fax Process. It was introduced originally when an IT fault was discovered, causing many UTRNs to be stuck in the system. This, coupled with manual keying backlogs, meant that they had to offer customers a way of re-presenting SDLT1s without incurring penalties.
As neither of these issues remain a problem, HMRC has decided to withdraw priority fax service from 31 March 2008. To keep up a high level of service for everyone they are asking customers whose returns are not on the system to send either a copy of the original return or a new one to Netherton.
This is only relevant to customers who use paper returns. It is not relevant to customers who file online using the HMRC product or commercial software products.
Online Services Helpline
Further to a meeting between the Society and HMRC, where we communicated the difficulties that many of our members are still facing with online submission of SDLT returns, HMRC has agreed that their online staff require extra training on Scottish issues. This will mean that their online services advisers will better appreciate the implications of service users in Scotland being unable to submit forms within the necessary timescales and will be able to offer a more customised service and respond to difficulties more swiftly.
In the meantime, if members encounter any difficulties when using the Online Services Helpline, you can report this directly to Alison Thomas, Business Director of Stamp Taxes at HMRC, by telephoning 020 7147 2810. Alison will need to know the date and time of the call you made and the name of the helpline adviser you spoke to. She can then listen to the call (as they are all recorded) and identify the areas that are causing specific problems to Scottish service users. HMRC has agreed to offer this service until April. Please use it.
SDLT Helpline
Please email us about your experience with HMRC's SDLT Helpline - good or bad. Actual experiences are more useful than anecdotal comment in our negotiations seeking service improvements.
- The current threshold for notification of non-leasehold transactions will be raised from a chargeable consideration of £1,000 to £40,000.
- Transactions involving leases for a term of seven years or more will only have to be notified where any chargeable consideration other than rent is more than £1,000.
- It will no longer be necessary to complete either an SDLT return (SDLT 1) or self-certificate (SDLT 60) if the transaction is below the notifiable threshold.
- The special rule for leases, which charges the premium at 1 per cent where this is below the SDLT threshold if the annual rent exceeds £600, is abolished for residential property, with effect from Budget Day. This will mainly benefit shared ownership purchasers who do not make a market value election.
Please click on the links to the right for further details, including information on the abolition of the "£600 rule" for residential leases and the effect this will have on shared ownership purchasers.
Official Links
Stamp Office Help Index
News & Latest FAQs
Stamp Taxes on-line
