I got a reply to my Freedom of Information request about stamp duty relief for first time buyers.
I asked…
- How much has HMRC spent in finding out if someone has previously bought a house or flat in the UK.
- How much has HMRC spent in finding out if someone has previously bought a house or flat anywhere else in the world.
- How much STLD has HMRC recovered from people who have claimed not to have previously owned a house or flat but have owned one in the UK
- How much STLD has HMRC recovered from people who have claimed not to have previously owned a house or flat but have owned one somewhere in the rest of the world.
- How many first time purchases have HMRC investigated whether the buyers have previously owned a house or flat?
- How many of these investigations have HMRC found people claiming not to have owned a house or flat have actually owned a house or flat a) in the UK and b) anywhere else in the world?
I didn’t get the figures I asked for. With regard to the first to questions about how much it has cost investigating whether a first time buyer is actually a first time buyer or not…
In response to parts 1 and 2, I am writing to advise you that following a review of our paper
and electronic records, I have established that HMRC does not hold the information you
requested.
I can confirm that HMRC’s SDLT investigation work is managed by a small central team that
co-ordinates resource drawn from across the Department – including solicitors, policy
advisers and specialists in anti-avoidance, compliance and investigation work. A central
record of data on the total number of staff addressing SDLT compliance work in respect of
first time buyers claim issues across these teams is not held.
…and the rest of my request is refused section 31, the qualified exemption rule, as it could give a clue as to the chances of getting caught.
I think this exemption is going a bit far for parts 3 and 4, how much HMRC has recovered, but without the rest of the information it doesn’t really mean much. It’s just a figure that has no scale to it.
I can see how revealing the amount of investigations HMRC has carried out and the amount of fraudulent first time buyers they’ve found could give away their success rate and so the chances of being caught.
The problem is, each piece of information is not really any use without the rest so, unless you guys can come up with a reason why HMRC should cough up then you’ve got till the beginning of April to let me know.
I was just looking at what the current rules for are for Stamp Duty and the obvious place to look is here.
First time buyers at the moment, I noticed, are getting a bit of a hand and instead of having to pay stamp duty from a purchase price of £125,000, don’t have to pay anything until the spend over £250,000.
Now, arguably, if you’re spending nearly £250k on your first home then you don’t really need that much of a hand onto the property ladder, but that isn’t the point of this post. What did catch my eye was the definition given for a first time buyer…
If you are a first-time buyer the threshold for when you start to pay SDLT is £250,000. This is only if you have never owned a house or flat in the UK or anywhere else in the world. If you are buying with someone else they must never have owned property before either. This higher threshold applies to purchases made on or after 25 March 2010 and before 25 March 2012.
A first time buyer is someone that hasn’t owned a house or flat. Anywhere. Not just in the UK, but worldwide.
How the fuck do HMRC know if someone has owned a house or flat anywhere other than the UK? I imagine some of this information gets onto the books via the land registry (obviously), tax returns and other things like that, or friendly foreign government agencies might help out, but do HMRC just take everyone at their word? Do they actually investigate to make sure they are fresh to the home-owning scene?
Wth this thought in my head I submitted a Freedom of Information request to them…
Dear HM Revenue and Customs,
This request is regarding the Stamp Duty Land Tax relief currently available to first time buyers.
People buying house or flat for the first time on or after 25th March 2010 and before 25th March 2012 do not pay any SDLTX on a property with a purchase price of £250,000 or less.
See here http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_4015918
The definition of “first time buyer” is someone that has not owned a house or flat in the UK or anywhere else in the world.
What I would like to know is
1) How much has HMRC spent in finding out if someone has previously bought a house or flat in the UK.
2) How much has HMRC spent in finding out if someone has previously bought a house or flat anywhere else in the world.
3) How much STLD has HMRC recovered from people who have claimed not to have previously owned a house or flat but have owned one in the UK
4) How much STLD has HMRC recovered from people who have claimed not to have previously owned a house or flat but have owned one somewhere in the rest of the world.
5) How many first time purchases have HMRC investigated whether the buyers have previously owned a house or flat?
6) How many of these investigations have HMRC found people claiming not to have owned a house or flat have actually owned a house or flat a) in the UK and b) anywhere else in the workd?
Could you give the most upto date figures possible and broken down in to months, and for purchases in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.