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Q: My client bought a house before she married her current husband. The couple now live in this house together, but the property remains solely in the wife’s name.  The couple are looking to move to a bigger property but want to keep the wife’s house, so that it can be let out. It has been suggested that the husband buys their new main residence in his name, and as he doesn’t own another property, this would stop them having to pay the higher rates of stamp duty land tax. Is this correct?

A: No this isn’t correct. Where only one of the spouses purchases a dwelling, it is assumed (for the purposes of the SDLT charge) that the other spouse is a joint purchaser. See HMRC guidance. Therefore, as the wife owns a property the husband is treated as owning the same property and therefore conditions A to D are met and the new property purchase is subject to the higher rates of stamp duty land Tax (3%).

The same rules apply for LBTT (Scotland) and LTT (Wales) but the rates that apply are different.

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These publications from Markel Tax were correct at the time of going to press and should be considered as principles-based guidance only. To check current validity, call the Markel Tax helpline. ICAEW (as distributor) disclaims all liability for any errors or omissions.

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Markel Tax offers expert advice on UK tax and VAT via its helpline and provides monthly FAQs with questions and answers on common tax issues for businesses and practitioners.

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