How to avoid paying stamp duty??

[HantsSeagull]

Hi
Your first question is often asked,In actual fact there are no implications for the lender as their security is perfected exactly as they see it
done normally. The clients will own the property as per the mortgage offer and the lenders interest is fully
realized as normal. The counsel approved disclosure documents will clearly explain this to the lender, who
will therefore have no grounds for objection.
Question 2 does not matter as you will own the property and can sell when you like.
The only thing that we require is that the planning is started at least one week before exchange of contracts.

I have some experience of this. You may well be right about mortgage lenders not being materially affected by a stamp duty scheme. However, most solicitors will insist on telling them about it and many lenders are not happy to lend where stamp duty schemes are being used. Especially state owned lenders.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Hi
Your first question is often asked,In actual fact there are no implications for the lender as their security is perfected exactly as they see it
done normally. The clients will own the property as per the mortgage offer and the lenders interest is fully
realized as normal. The counsel approved disclosure documents will clearly explain this to the lender, who
will therefore have no grounds for objection.
Question 2 does not matter as you will own the property and can sell when you like.
The only thing that we require is that the planning is started at least one week before exchange of contracts.

How do you judge the success of your scheme? Stamp Duty is self-assessed, the onus is ultimately on the purchaser to get it right. Just because the forms have been received and no one has immediatey queried them it does not mean it has gone through and all is fine.

 

[Driver8]

Linked transactions purely for the avoidance of tax = tax payable when HMRC find out.

Absolutely this. Those taking part in these artificial schemes don't be surprised when HMRC come knocking for their pound of flesh. And don't be surprised if your promised fee refund doesn't materialise either.

 

[brunswick]

i dont beleive there has been a period in history when young man hasnt said " i want more" be it money, trinkets, excitement or knowledge.

agreed, but many facets of youth education steer away from this - in all epochs (stiener, alternative education, tibet etc). i am saying that modern education turns out materialistic people stuck in egoistic desire, and nothing about inner happiness and inner peace.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

agreed, but many facets of youth education steer away from this - in all epochs (stiener, alternative education, tibet etc). i am saying that modern education turns out materialistic people stuck in egoistic desire, and nothing about inner happiness and inner peace.

There appears to be a loophole but most solicitors don't touch it and even if you get the refund, I think the HMRC will come after you at some stage in the future so I do not recommend my clients to do this, even though it might be a nice little earner in difficult times.

 

[ILOVEBHA]

Absolutely this. Those taking part in these artificial schemes don't be surprised when HMRC come knocking for their pound of flesh. And don't be surprised if your promised fee refund doesn't materialise either.

Well i dont know what schemes or firms you have dealt with in the past but i can 100% guarantee that if the scheme did fail then there is a 100% money back guarantee.
Why are people so dismissive of these schemes, we are a very professional and very well respected firm of Chartered accountants and we have done our due diligence on all the schemes we offer and would not put it to our clients if we did not feel confident in the products on offer.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

Well i dont know what schemes or firms you have dealt with in the past but i can 100% guarantee that if the scheme did fail then there is a 100% money back guarantee.
Why are people so dismissive of these schemes, we are a very professional and very well respected firm of Chartered accountants and we have done our due diligence on all the schemes we offer and would not put it to our clients if we did not feel confident in the products on offer.

If the company goes bust the " money back guarantee " is worthless. I thought about this scheme but something about it , I feel uneasy with. I had a recent client buy at £ 1.65 m and they/we did not use this scheme. I know of a client who used it, not through me and had to pay about £ 2k upfront with no guarantees. Also the company took 30% of the saved Stamp Duty and the process was at least 9 months. I am convinced this scheme will be closed and that people that have avoided Stamp Duty may have a knock on the door from the HMRC in the future.

 

[Uncle C]

Does anyone believe that when when HMRC eventually comes calling for its money that the Chartered Accountant will still remain in business handing out hundreds of thousands to disappointed customers.

Get real.

Its a nice little earner for them at present, but like all schemes of this type they will dissolve into the scenery when the shit hits the fan.

 

[Driver8]

Well i dont know what schemes or firms you have dealt with in the past but i can 100% guarantee that if the scheme did fail then there is a 100% money back guarantee.
Why are people so dismissive of these schemes, we are a very professional and very well respected firm of Chartered accountants and we have done our due diligence on all the schemes we offer and would not put it to our clients if we did not feel confident in the products on offer.

I am talking from 25+ years experience in financial planning and have seen many artificial schemes come and go and it is usually the client that pays. The latest "pension unlocking" scam will go the same way any day now. HMRC are under a lot of pressure to recover leaking taxes and will come down hard where it sees evasion.

There is nothing wrong with sensible tax planning and it forms a large part of my job but I draw the line at artificial schemes designed simply to avoid paying tax that is due.

 

[ILOVEBHA]

I am talking from 25+ years experience in financial planning and have seen many artificial schemes come and go and it is usually the client that pays. The latest "pension unlocking" scam will go the same way any day now. HMRC are under a lot of pressure to recover leaking taxes and will come down hard where it sees evasion.

There is nothing wrong with sensible tax planning and it forms a large part of my job but I draw the line at artificial schemes designed simply to avoid paying tax that is due.

Can you explain to me the difference between tax planning and what we offer our clients which i believe is tax planning.
I just find it funny how people are happy to slam anything they know very little about and shock horror but tax planning has been going on ever since the tax regime began

 

[ILOVEBHA]

Does anyone believe that when when HMRC eventually comes calling for its money that the Chartered Accountant will still remain in business handing out hundreds of thousands to disappointed customers.

Get real.

Its a nice little earner for them at present, but like all schemes of this type they will dissolve into the scenery when the shit hits the fan.

Dont think i can say much to this other than maybe you have been dealing with a lot of unprofessional people in your past.

 

[ILOVEBHA]

Bottom line is these schemes are not for everyone but if you are intereted they are available......The reason we started offering tax strategies is that a client who is a contractor came to us and said another firm was offering him a chance to keep 82% of his income, we could not compete and said it was all rubbish and would come crashing down however he left us and joined another firm which made us think what kind of accountants are we that we cannot offer our clients the best tax advice and all the options.
We did our due diligence and we believe have found the best products with the best QC`s opinion and best providers on the market and as a result can offer all of our clients another option, believe me they are happy to know we are a forward thinkinmg firm on their side and as a result our business is booming.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Why are people so dismissive of these schemes, we are a very professional and very well respected firm of Chartered accountants and we have done our due diligence on all the schemes we offer and would not put it to our clients if we did not feel confident in the products on offer.

I was involved in a purchase which was a bit painful due to the way the property title was configured and how it could/needed to be configured. There were about three different ways it could be arrranged and I took specialist advice on this, not so much to dodge tax (or mitigate it as you say) but how best to configure the property titles for now and how this would affect things for me and my wife in the future. This was from both a tax (stamp and cap gains) point of view and also a title perspective. We didnt want to make a mistake.

The people I dealt with were specialists and they did talk about the various mitigation schemes available and advised against them. I'm sure they have done all the due-dilligence you talk about as well. Their view was different to the one your company has. The reasons they gave made sense to me and I respect their advice. I took a look on the internet last night and found some seemingly respected people who share this opinion.

As I said in a previous post, how do you judge the success of your scheme from a self-assessed tax? It is also a very very easy dodge to identify. All you have to do is look at the land registry and the tax mismatch. If a test case is lost, it will be a simple and quick process for the HMRC to identify and begin to recoup the monies. A simple check from one register to another and they will then ask you for x thousands of pounds. As a result of the ease of identification, and the large sums involved expect the HMRC to put a lot of staff on this. And at the very least expect interest to be paid on the back dated tax.

This is one reason why it does not appeal to me.

 

[ILOVEBHA]

I was involved in a purchase which was a bit painful due to the way the property title was configured and how it could/needed to be configured. There were about three different ways it could be arrranged and I took specialist advice on this, not so much to dodge tax (or mitigate it as you say) but how best to configure the property titles for now and how this would affect things for me and my wife in the future. This was from both a tax (stamp and cap gains) point of view and also a title perspective. We didnt want to make a mistake.

The people I dealt with were specialists and they did talk about the various mitigation schemes available and advised against them. I'm sure they have done all the due-dilligence you talk about as well. Their view was different to the one your company has. The reasons they gave made sense to me and I respect their advice. I took a look on the internet last night and found some seemingly respected people who share this opinion.

As I said in a previous post, how do you judge the success of your scheme from a self-assessed tax? It is also a very very easy dodge to identify. All you have to do is look at the land registry and the tax mismatch. If a test case is lost, it will be a simple and quick process for the HMRC to identify and begin to recoup the monies. A simple check from one register to another and they will then ask you for x thousands of pounds. As a result of the ease of identification, and the large sums involved expect the HMRC to put a lot of staff on this. And at the very least expect interest to be paid on the back dated tax.

This is one reason why it does not appeal to me.

As i stated these schemes are not for everyone but everyone should at least be shown all options by their advisers.
If the SDLT mitigation fails all that happens is you are put in the same position you would have been in had you not entered into the scheme with no penalties or interest applicable.

 

[Triggaaar]

I thought about this scheme but something about it , I feel uneasy with. I had a recent client buy at £ 1.65 m and they/we did not use this scheme.

How did the scheme that you looked at work?

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

How did the scheme that you looked at work?

I didn't look into any scheme, they paid £ 84250 stamp duty on completion.

 

[ILOVEBHA]

I didn't look into any scheme, they paid £ 84250 stamp duty on completion.

My point exactly, there are so many people happy to make bad negative comments who have not even looked at schemes on offer.
I do hope your client who paid £84,250 never finds out he could have had another option to pay only £42,125 plus vat.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

If the SDLT mitigation fails all that happens is you are put in the same position you would have been in had you not entered into the scheme with no penalties or interest applicable.

I do find it hard to believe that if you have been proven to withhold money from the HMRC they will not ask for interest at the very least.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

My point exactly, there are so many people happy to make bad negative comments who have not even looked at schemes on offer.
I do hope your client who paid £84,250 never finds out he could have had another option to pay only £42,125 plus vat.

As I said I am not comfortable about it and I can guarantee if it all goes belly up, no offense but you will not be seen or traceable for dust. If the clients want to look into it themselves they are free to, I did refer one client to a firm that does this and it was a shambles and the client walked away from it. There have been several schemes recently that have promised the world and turned to shit so I am very careful about what I recommend. I guess I could have earned a few grand from the latest client but I like to sleep at night. Anyway good luck.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Absolutely this. Those taking part in these artificial schemes don't be surprised when HMRC come knocking for their pound of flesh. And don't be surprised if your promised fee refund doesn't materialise either.

I do wonder what ILOVEBHA's company's contingency is for this...if there even is one.