Dozens of times a week, some firm or other will be sneaking into your inbox (or spam folder) offering some service or other that your firm desperately needs and only they can provide. And many of them will even be self-aware enough to say that they know you hear a lot of similar offers but they are different.
We get it. We’re just another firm vying for your attention with a tech solution you aren’t even sure you need, let alone want. Your firm has been handling Stamp Duty Land Tax for years, over hundreds or thousands of cases. How much more help could you possibly need?
Let’s start with the Higher Rate on Additional Dwellings (aka the 3% surcharge), are you certain your firm has this one all under control? Certain enough to bank on it? In 2019, Advanced Mortgage Funding ended up the wrong side of a hefty Financial Ombudsman Service fine thanks to the fact that their local friendly solicitor also thought he understood the HRAD rules well enough to provide a quick answer. He was, as it turned out, quite wrong.
How about the fact that HMRC itself, when sent a case study by the Times Newspaper who were running an article, gave the incorrect answer on the study because the officer confused the concept of a civil partnership with a common law marriage? These would be the same people at HMRC you ask to check your working when you’re not sure.
Are you aware of Bewley v HMRC? The case which determined that if a second residential property is uninhabitable at the time of purchase, the 3% surcharge doesn’t fall due nor does the normal residential rate.
What about Multiple Dwellings Relief? The vast majority of SDLT-related claims against law firms at the moment relate to missed MDR on historical cases. Is it possible that lurking in your firm’s files are more than one case where MDR could arguably have been claimed? How long might it be before that client notices and is in touch to demand recompense?
Mixed Use is often easily missed, when properties come with additional land for commercial use, commercial outbuildings or with liens or rights over the land they encompass. Can you say with certainty that there are no such cases where your firm may have missed such a relief being due?
Of course, HMRC already provides a free calculator for SDLT, so what use could you have for a subscription-based calculator that does the same job? Well, does HMRC’s calculator:
- Provide indemnification against any errors that might become apparent after the fact?
- Is HMRC’s calculator sophisticated enough to catch every nuance of each property transaction which may be relevant to the calculation of SDLT?
- Does HMRC itself provide a solid guarantee of its calculator’s accuracy?
- Will they “have your back” if an angry claimant client comes calling?
The answer to all of these is no – they were in fact quoted in the Times as saying the calculator is intended merely “as a guide”.
Compass offers Complete Protection, being a one stop application for all your Stamp Duty needs, helping you to ensure that SDLT is calculated correctly for each of your clients first time, every time and not on your PI.
Compass is an Expert Backed System. All complicated and risky matters are automatically identified, and manually reviewed by our in-house tax experts to confirm the position. If necessary, a panel of High Quality Expert Advisors, validated and quality assured, are available to choose from for every matter that requires referral after the free review, providing the client with the most accurate & you with a risk-free calculation on every case.
In 2022, with PII premiums continuing to soar, rising inflation and a cost of living crisis impacting every aspect of business, can your firm really afford to take any chances with regards to calculating SDLT on your client matters?
The real question here is less “Do you really need it?” and more “Why don’t we have it?”
This article was submitted to be published by SDLT Compass as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.
