Stamp Duty Land Tax (“SDLT”) is a tax on land transactions payable on the purchase of land or property (including leases) over a certain price in England.
The time limit for filing an SDLT return with HM Revenue and Customs (“HMRC”) and paying any tax due to HMRC is being reduced from 30 days to 14 days for those property transactions in England with an ‘effective date’ on or after 01 March 2019.
The ‘effective date’ is the date of completion; however, it may be brought forward where a contract has been substantially performed, for example, when a tenant takes early occupation of a tenanted property.
Improvements will also be made to the information to be provided in the SDLT return, and these will be in place when the new time limit begins (01 March 2019).
The Welsh Land Transaction Tax (“LTT”) replaced SDLT in Wales in April 2018. Under the LTT, the time limit for filing the return and submitting a payment to the Welsh Revenue Authority is 30 days from the effective date of the transaction.
The SDLT rules and LTT rules are complex, with many exceptions, exemptions, and reliefs. If your transaction is not straightforward you should take specialist tax advice to ensure that you pay the correct amount of SDLT or LTT (whichever applies).