Costly cast-offs: do we have to pay extra stamp duty if we increase our offer to include some of the house contents?

Do we have to pay extra stamp duty if we want to buy our new home's contents?
Merrily Harpur
Fiona McNulty17 September 2018

Question: We are buying a house and the vendor has suggested he sells some of its contents to us for £15,000. He insists we will not have to pay stamp duty on that extra sum. We think he's just trying to get us to pay more for the property, because the contents he wants to leave are certainly not worth that amount in our view. Is he right about the stamp duty though?

Answer: In general, stamp duty is payable when a buyer purchases a residential property for more than £125,000. Sometimes different rules and rates apply — for example, when the buyer is a first timer, or if the purchase means the buyer will own more than one residential property.

Stamp duty is payable on land which includes buildings and fixtures. Items annexed to land and property are classed as fixtures, for example, fitted wardrobes and fitted kitchen cupboards. Stamp duty is not payable on items which are not classed as fixtures, such as curtains, blinds and carpets.

If you are prepared to increase your offer, do so and if you want some of the contents these should be listed and priced separately and the list should be annexed to the contract. It is very important that any sum of money attributed to chattels is calculated on a just and reasonable basis.

The value must not be overinflated as that could amount to a fraud on HM Revenue & Customs and you and your solicitor could face criminal sanctions, while the contract could be unenforceable.

These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

If you have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE. Questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a solicitor specialising in residential property.

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