Damp
Mould
Leaks
Kitchen
Bathroom
Electrics
Structural
Other
Have you claimed your stamp duty rebate?
If you are not aware of the recent January 2019 case law PN Bewley Ltd vs The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs then keep reading!
A legal viewpoint
In this ruling a couple took HMRC to court. They challenged the recent April 2016 Stamp Duty surcharge on second properties and they won! They successfully claimed back £6,000 on a £200,000 property. Their argument was that based on their property needing some works after completion, it should not have been considered fit for use as a dwelling at the time of purchase and therefore they shouldn’t have paid the Stamp Duty Land Tax surcharge. The judge agreed with them!
Case-Law
Getting your money back
HMRC review all applications for SDLT on a case by case basis. Therefore, we help our clients with an initial free consultation and assess whether the property is likely to be considered uninhabitable for SDLT exemption or rebate purposes.
We will then gather the evidence such as photographs, builders’ quotes, improvement notices and building surveys to build a strong application on our clients behalf.
What’s in it for us?
Our service is No Win, No Fee. We take the stress out of the claims process as well as any financial risk. Our pricing is simple, 30% of your returned refund. If your claim is unsuccessful, you pay nothing.
Speak to a ConsultantWhat qualifies?
Successful claims often have one or more of these issues:
- Roof Leaks
- Structural Issues
- Cavity wall tie issues
- Subsidence or settlement
- Defective lintels
- Cracking
- Damp
- Mould Growth
- Insect attack
- Dry rot
- Missing bathroom fittings
- Missing kitchen appliances
- Missing or defective plaster
- Missing carpets / finishes
- Missing floor boards
- Missing / Faulty heating
- Missing / Unsafe electrics
- Asbestos
- Lack of power / water etc.
- Lead water supply
- H&S or other issues
Start your stamp duty rebate today
Get started with Stamp Duty Claims today and let our experts handle it!
Why choose Stamp Duty Claims?
Our expert team includes tax consultants, chartered surveyors, accountants and legal advisors who specialise in SDLT refunds, no matter how complex.
We will build your application and issue all the correspondence in relation to the claim.
We will not put you at any financial risk and pay-outs are often as short as 30 days.
We work strictly on a No Win – No Fee basis so it is in our interest to get the best outcome for you and if we can’t help it wont cost you a thing!
Frequently Asked Questions
First time buyers will, generally speaking, not be able to make a claim as they will already have paid a much lower rate of stamp duty due to the relief available for individuals purchasing a single home to live in. This process is more geared towards second homes and buy to let properties as if we are successful with a case the maximum we can get the SDLT down to is the commercial rate.
At the moment our current turnaround time for a case once we have received all documents from the client up until money has been received in the clients account is approximately 6 weeks.
Ideally we would ask you for a copy of a survey of the property, however if there was no survey taken around the time of sale we can work with either photographs showing issues at the property, quotes or statements from contractors for works needed or invoices for works completed at the property.
The criteria of issues needed at a property to be suitable for this relief would have to be something either which:
• Is causing some form of hazard for someone to occupy the property in a normal and safe manner. I.e., Unsafe electrics, Asbestos, Fire hazards, structural issues, Unsafe gas supply, Lead water supply, Rot, Damp, Infestation etc.
• Is lacking of the basic necessities required for a legal dwelling. I.e., Lack of kitchen / bathroom / suitable living area, Lack of heating/ running water or electrics etc.
Our team are on hand and happy to discuss the specifics of your property with you over the phone so if you feel there may be something we can do or if you are unsure whether you qualify or not just give us a call and we can run through the details.
During the stamp duty holiday SDLT rates were drastically reduced and therefore although we can still make a claim, chances are that the amount of the refund will be lower in reflection of the amount that was paid.
This claim and the legislation surrounding un-inhabitable property is only applicable to residential property such as houses / flats / bungalow.
We have created a process that takes away any risk and exposure from the client; the financial exposure is zero as we are working on a no win – no fee basis. Every case we deal with gets sent to HMRC technical department where we liaise with a tech officer who, if we are successful, will approve and sign off on the case. The risk of a case not going through ultimately can lead to us receiving a closure notice giving us 30 days to supply new or more information, or HMRC will close the case on us leaving the client in no worse of a situation then when they started.
You can read details of the full first-tier tribunal decision ‘’P N Bewley VS HMRC’’ on our blog.
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