We learned on Friday about a client (not one of ours) who had bought a property three years ago, and had taken advantage of the supposed benefits of avoiding paying Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). This client had received a letter from HMRC warning them that they were investigating the transaction, and even supplied a copy of his tax return to jog his memory.
Now - although HMRC have been promising to take strong action against those avoiding this tax, this is the first time that we have come across an actual case, but we are sure that it won't be the last.
This is why we always say to people who insist that they want to go down this route, if you do want to avoid paying tax, please make sure that you hold this money in your bank account, just in case of unexpected letters such as these.
Our advice continues to be that these SDLT mitigation schemes pose no risk to the suppliers, but all the risk lies with the client and so should be avoided where possible.
