"What we don’t want is for people to read about underpayments and then assume there’s no safe way to reclaim money that’s rightfully theirs"
- Sean Swimby - SCA Tax
Angela Rayner’s recent property tax dispute has brought Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) back into the spotlight, showing just how easy it is to make mistakes.
While her case focuses on underpayment, the larger problem for many property buyers is the opposite: millions are overpaid each year because legitimate reliefs are missed.
A review of more than 7,000 transactions by specialist consultancy SCA Tax found that 11% of buyers had overpaid, missing out on refunds averaging £12,909. Some reclaim tens of thousands of pounds. While many cases involved complex business purchases, such as multi-site dwellings, others concerned ordinary homeowners and landlords.
These reliefs are not obscure loopholes but government-recognised allowances designed to reflect the different ways people buy and use property. Yet because the rules are complicated, and SDLT advice is rarely part of standard conveyancing, many buyers do not claim them.
Refunds may be available in situations such as:
Purchases from a probate or deceased estate
Mixed-use properties with both residential and commercial elements
Cases where the 3% second home surcharge no longer applies because a previous main residence has been sold
Internal analysis by SCA showed that nearly 70% of overpayments related to probate purchases, 20% to mixed-use properties, and 6% to second home surcharges.
Sean Swimby, director and founder of SCA Tax, said: “The Angela Rayner case highlights how complicated stamp duty is, and mistakes happen at every level. What we don’t want is for people to read about underpayments and then assume there’s no safe way to reclaim money that’s rightfully theirs."
“Ideally, buyers should get advice at the time of purchase, so reliefs are applied straight away. But even if the sale has already gone through, you may still be able to recover an overpayment. There are strict time limits, so it’s well worth having past transactions checked.”
Stamp duty remains one of the most misunderstood aspects of buying property. HMRC’s online calculator does not account for most reliefs, and conveyancers are not tax advisers, leaving responsibility with the buyer.
For anyone who has bought property in the last four years and whose purchase was not a straightforward single home, it may be worth checking whether a refund is due.
Sean Swimby added: “At SCA Tax, we specialise in SDLT, and every claim we handle is evidence-led and fully compliant. Our role is to make sure buyers recover what they’re genuinely entitled to, without the risk of HMRC challenging it further down the line.
“Understandably, people will now be nervous about getting it right. Angela Rayner has been hit with a hefty additional SDLT bill, and a lot of people won’t have that kind of cash lying around. The key is to get the right advice at the outset, wherever possible, but equally, don’t be put off from checking for a refund if you think you’ve overpaid. These reliefs exist for a reason.”
