Stamp duty including appliance extras?

Benster

Hi folks,

Just a quick question on behalf of my brother. He's in the process of buying an apartment in Scotland and in the cost is included a few extras like kitchen appliances and all the flooring. He had a query about the stamp duty calculation and whether or not these extras should be included in the total price before SD. It would save him about £1500 if they weren't included.

I know the law on SD is probably different over there, but has this sort of thing come up here at all? Do sellers who include extras add them into the final cost upon which you pay SD?

Cheers for any help.

B.

Lex Luthor

I can't see how it would save him £1500???

I'm buying a place soon and it comes with a few appliances...dish washer/washer dryer/oven/hob & extractor fan...probably totalling about €1500 approx. 3% of €1500 is €45 is all I'd be saving if I was to pursue trying to save it, which I couldn't be even bothered.

I think the SD rates in the UK are a lot lower than here also.

iguana

It could save him £1500, if the cost of the white goods can be calculated at an amount which will put the total property price below a stamp duty increase point. In the UK stamp duty is exempt at under £120k (or £150k in certain areas). It is 1% up to £250k and after that it goes to 3%. And above £500k it is 4%.

I bought my house in London recently for £252k, but we paid 1% stamp as the final £2000 was calculated as a fee for the white goods. This saved us £5000 and is perfectly legal. The vendor had to make up a list of what we were getting for the £2000 and give it to each solicitor. We were told that this is ok up to £10k here, but it has to transparent as if you do it under the table and get caught you would be in trouble.

However it could be different in Scotland as they have different property laws, although a lot of those are to prevent gazumping and gazundering. It would be worth your brother getting advice from a few people as when we first looked into it we were told a couple of different things by different experts. But I would imagine it's possible and it costs nothing to ask.

Lex Luthor

iguana wrote:

It could save him £1500, if the cost of the white goods can be calculated at an amount which will put the total property price below a stamp duty increase point. In the UK stamp duty is exempt at under £120k (or £150k in certain areas). It is 1% up to £250k and after that it goes to 3%. And above £500k it is 4%.

I bought my house in London recently for £252k, but we paid 1% stamp as the final £2000 was calculated as a fee for the white goods. This saved us £5000 and is perfectly legal. The vendor had to make up a list of what we were getting for the £2000 and give it to each solicitor. We were told that this is ok up to £10k here, but it has to transparent as if you do it under the table and get caught you would be in trouble.

However it could be different in Scotland as they have different property laws, although a lot of those are to prevent gazumping and gazundering. It would be worth your brother getting advice from a few people as when we first looked into it we were told a couple of different things by different experts. But I would imagine it's possible and it costs nothing to ask.

gotcha...I wasn't thinking along the lines of the cost crossing the threshold. For me removing the white goods doesn't cross any threshold.

Andrew Duffy

In Ireland, the purchaser's solicitor must sign a declaration that the contract for purchase is not part of a larger contract that brings the total price above a stamp duty boundary. You can save a few hundred by not paying stamp duy for appliances and furniture - worth it if your solicitor agrees to play without complaining.