Spending Review 2015 – 3% increase on Stamp Duty for BTL and second homes

Spending Review 2015 – 3% increase on Stamp Duty for BTL and second homes

14:30 PM, 25th November 2015, About 9 years ago 224

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GeorgeThe Chancellor George Osborne in his spending review today announced that he will increase Stamp duty for Buy to Let properties and second homes with a surcharge of 3% from April 2016.

The Chancellor said he wanted to change from generation rent to generation buy. He was concerned that Cash Purchasers and foreign investors, who were not affected by the relief cap of 20% on  mortgage interest, along with Buy to Let investors were squeezing out home buyers. Therefore there will be an increase of 3% in stamp duty for non-main residence purchasers, which would also raise an additional £1bn in tax.

The Housing budget will now be doubled to £2bn per annum and a project to build 400,000 new affordable homes to buy will be started. Osborne said “this government chooses to build.”

These affordable homes will be offered to First Time Buyers at a discount of 20%, and 135,000 new homes will be offered under Help to Buy shared ownership.

A London Help to Buy scheme will offer interest-free loans up to a maximum of 40% of the value of a newly built home.

Restrictions on shared ownership will be removed and the planning system reformed to deliver more homes.

Councils will also receive an additional £10m to help homeless people.

It is the Chancellors clear policy to help solve the housing crises by building more homes and squeezing the competitiveness of the Private Rental Sector thus shifting the balance from renting to home ownership.

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Commercial property investors, with more than 15 properties, are expected to be exempt from the new charges.


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Comments

Simon Lever - Chartered Accountant helping clients get the best returns from their properties

14:24 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Re Reporting and paying CGT on sales within 30 days of sale.

This will no doubt follow the same sort of format as already exists for non resident landlords.

The reporting will be via the HMRC web site and will no doubt be very similar to the form Non Residents have to fill out here: https://online.hmrc.gov.uk/shortforms/form/NRCGT_Return?dept-name=&sub-dept-name=&location=43&origin=http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

The CGT Computation wil have to be prepared before the form is filled out and therefore good records will be essential for the computation and form to be compelted within the timescale.

I have recently done one for a client and the solicitor did not want to get anywhere near completing the form. The accountnat wil be the one who ends up doing it.

Additional charges will need to be paid for this service.

The tax paid will be on account of the tax due in the relevant personal or corporate tax returns and the CGT comps will need to be included in the returns as well as provided with the form with the filing.

All this does is bring forward the receipt of the tax by the Treasury and give the opportunuty for fines to be raised for non compliance.

money manager

14:46 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Simon Lever" at "27/11/2015 - 14:24":

The whole raison d'etre of the Treasury is to make tax payable at the earlies point even if it ends up being repaid, CGT on account payments being a case in point. You sell property a) in April and pay the tax in May, sell property b) in June at an equal loss and when do you get a repayment? probably when you have to file the anual return and payment i.e. the January 18 mths thereafter. The same for post sale mitigation such as investing in an EIS to defer the tax, CGT planning all of a sudden got much more complicated.

14:57 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "vaccav scott" at "25/11/2015 - 19:19":

Yes it's true. Stamp Duty in Scotland was replaced earlier this year I think, with a new sliding scale of increasing charges based on the value of the property. I can't remember the bands exactly, but it seems much fairer to me. I think it meant the lower bands were a bit less than before, actually helping the less well off, while the higher bands increase in a gradual way, for those buying more expensive properties, who, by definition, can afford to pay more.

Claudio Valentini

15:00 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Can someone please clarify: The extra 3% SDLT will also apply to a SPV Limited Company purchasing property for investment ( < 15 properties) - I think it does but there are some mixed messages from previous posts. And what's the deal in Scotland?
Thanks...

16:24 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Richard York" at "26/11/2015 - 10:39":

Do you mean Help to Buy?

Alison King

17:00 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Vanessa Barlow" at "26/11/2015 - 11:16":

Vanessa, I can't see where anyone else has answered this; apologies if they have and I missed it. A property development company is a very different beast to a BTL company and the tax rules are different too. If you are buying property to do up and sell without renting out I think SDLT does not apply; although Corporation Tax does.

17:04 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Јім Мспіџєп" at "25/11/2015 - 21:54":

Only if you're a cash buyer. BTL them and your just adding to your problems.

17:09 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "Claudio Valentini" at "27/11/2015 - 15:00":

https://www.revenue.scot/land-buildings-transaction-tax

I think the biggest difference is that you don't pay any tax on the first £145,000, just on the amounts above. Previously, if you bought a house at say £150,000, you would pay 2% of £150k , whereas now you would only pay 2% of £5k.

Bartley Hilliam

17:13 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Can anyone clarify what the situation is on off plan properties? This week I had an offer accepted on a 2nd property that happens to be off plan. I will exchange within next 4 weeks with 20% deposit put down, however the property wont be completed until 2017. Will I pay stamp duty as it is now as I will exchange and sign contracts now, or will have i to pay stamp duty on completion at the new 3%. It has made me very nervous as it is the difference of £10k. And if this is the case, I wouldnt have put the reserved deposit down. ANy help would be great. Thanks

Chris Brown

17:14 PM, 27th November 2015, About 9 years ago

Reply to the comment left by "David Price" at "27/11/2015 - 08:16":

Don't be daft - it's the small man's money he wants.
The way I read this is that the SDLT applies on a purchase, but not on a new build. So this tax will do nothing to produce more accommodation, just reduce the competition for corporate buyers.

I would have thought institutional buyers will do their own developments and avoid SDLT altogether.

I've already told my MP that he can't rely on Jeremy to deliver my vote. Fair legislation will. I don't think this legislation will be remembered by the average tenant or homebuyer in 4 years time, but every landlord will.

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