Don’t take tax advice advice from a Solicitor! It sounds obvious but thousands of people do it every year when they are calculating how much Stamp Duty they will have to pay on a property purchase.

I can tell you this from first hand experience. Solicitors are not qualified to give Tax advice but they are very quick to tell you how much Stamp Duty you will have to pay on your purchase. They are only able to complete your Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT1) form.

I was buying a house a few years ago and my Solicitors said that I must pay £20,200 because I had a BTL in the background! But a quick call to a Tax Adviser specialising in SDLT informed me that I only need pay £8,875!! And a £200 letter from the Adviser to the Solicitor was well worth the investment!

The knowledge of the tax mine field that the Adviser had highlighted that because I owned a main residency some years back, and this purchase was within an exemption period, then the new ‘additional property’ Stamp Duty rule did not apply to me. I could have kissed him!

Please comment below if you have had any similar Stamp Duty related stories. Or contact me if you would like my Tax Adviser’s number!!

I can tell you this from first hand experience. Solicitors are not qualified to give Tax advice but they are very quick to tell you how much Stamp Duty you will have to pay on your purchase. They are only able to complete your Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT1) form.

Danny Kitchener