Land Transaction Return advice

And it is about 25 minutes of a solicitor's time, which isn't that long.

Well thats 100/hour aprox which I would imagine is the going rate?

In message , Richard Faulkner writes

Neither can I, I am just explaining the law on old Stamp Duty, now replaced of course for land transactions.

In message , PeteM

Yes, I am just explaining the law as it stands (stood) and giving an example. Another would be share holdings. If you never wanted to rely on the shareholders register then pay no stamp duty on the contract.

Are you really? Are you sure? Is this is theory of yours or is it based on experience?

Your point is, as I understand it, that in transactions of unregistered land you could avoid paying stamp duty by choosing not to register the transaction. If that is true, it is a very well-kept secret. It is unknown to conveyancing lawyers. You won't find it in any conveyancing textbook. Since most areas (possibly all) are areas of compulsory registration, I cannot see how you could ever lawfully avoid registering a purchase of unregistered land.

Surely that depends upon the amount of Stamp Duty involved!

If you buy a property for say £10m and are faced with paying 4% Stamp Duty, that is £400000 ......well worth considering the legal tax saving possibilities.

All sorts of things possible .... such as "resting on contract".

But all that is in the past. Just think of SDLT as one big loophole closing ... severely restricting the tax-saving possibilities. There are still some tax-saving possibilities but in the main they merely reduce the tax payable and do not cut it out completely. The tax-planning now consists of giving more thought to exactly what contract you want to enter into.

In message , The Todal writes

yes

yes

no

Yes, and research which I conducted a few weeks ago when looking into the changes on Stamp Duty.

These days, with compulsory first registration, that is true, but in the relatively recent past, it was not necessary that is why it was called UNregistered, and conveyances on unregistered land were not registered anyway and didnt need to have stamp duty applied to them UNLESS they were to be produced as evidence in a court of law.

In message , John writes

Thats right, but not any more sadly ...............