Stamp Duty Land Tax relief – Acquisition by house-building company from individual acquiring new dwelling

The CIOT’s letters and HMRC’s replies, in relation to the application of SDLT relief for an acquisition of an existing house by a housebuilder where the individual acquires a new house from the housebuilder in part exchange, are below.

• CIOT letter of 8 Oct 2019
• HMRC response of 7 May 20
• CIOT response of 10 Aug 20
• HMRC made the following response on 18 November 2020:  

“I am able to confirm that partial relief would not be available in the circumstances outlined.

We consider the decision in the Pollen case relates solely to transactions involving a charity as a joint purchaser, this is based on the appeal being allowed on the ‘narrow ground that para 1 Schedule 8 should be interpreted’ in the way set out in the judgement. We have specifically legislated for those scenarios in para 3A Schedule 8 FA03. As a result, for all other reliefs to be available, all of the purchasers must meet the relevant conditions”