Apply for a repayment of the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax
Ask for a repayment of the higher rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) for additional properties if you sell what was previously your main home.
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When you can apply for a repayment of SDLT
You can apply for a repayment of the higher rates of SDLT for additional properties if you’ve sold what was previously your main home and you’re either the:
- main buyer of the property charged at the higher rate of SDLT
- agent acting for the main buyer
You must have sold your previous main home within 3 years of buying the new property, unless exceptional circumstances apply.
Applying for a repayment — Properties sold on or after 29 October 2018
If you sold your previous main home on or after 29 October 2018, HMRC must receive your request for a refund by whichever date is the later of:
- 12 months after the sale
- 12 months after the filing date of the SLDT return for your new main home
Applying for a repayment — Properties sold on or before 28 October 2018
If you sold your previous main home on or before 28 October 2018, HMRC must receive your request for a refund by whichever date is the later of:
- 3 months after the sale
- 12 months after the filing date of the SLDT return for your new main home
Applying for a repayment if there has been a delay in selling
You can still apply for a refund if you:
- bought your new home on or after 1 January 2017
- were stopped from selling your previous home within 3 years
To qualify for a refund, the delay in selling must be due to exceptional circumstances outside of your control. The types of circumstances that may qualify as exceptional usually affect large groups of people and not only the buyer or seller in an individual transaction.
Exceptional circumstances include, but are not limited to:
- being stopped from selling the property because of government imposed restrictions
- an action taken by a public authority stopping the sale
Events which normally occur when buying and selling property are not treated as exceptional circumstances. These events include, but are not limited to:
- not being able to find a buyer at the price you want
- delays in agreeing terms with the buyer
- the breakdown in a chain of transactions
To be eligible for the refund, you must sell your previous home without further delay once the reason for the original delay has ended.
Once this has happened, you can then write to HMRC to ask for the refund. You must include:
- an explanation of why you were prevented from selling your previous main home within 3 years
- the information listed in the ‘Information you’ll need’ section of this guide
You should send the information to:
BT Stamp Duty Land Tax
HM Revenue and Customs
BX9 1HD
Read about exceptional circumstances in the SDLT manual for more information before you apply.
Apply for a repayment
To apply for a repayment you can:
- use the online form
- fill in the form on-screen, print it off and post it to HMRC
To use the online form, you need a Government Gateway user ID and password. If you do not have a user ID, you can create one when you use the service.
Email HMRC to ask for this form in Welsh (Cymraeg).
Before you start
Make sure your browser is up to date before you start to fill in the form.
You cannot save a partly completed form so have all your information together before you start to fill it in.
Information you’ll need
To fill in this form you’ll need:
- your details
- the main buyer’s details, if not your own
- details of the property that attracted the higher rates of SDLT, including the effective date of purchase and the SDLT unique transaction reference number
- details of the previous main home you’ve sold, including the effective date of sale, the address of the property and the name of the buyer
- the amount of tax paid on the property that attracted the higher rates of SDLT
- the amount of tax you’re asking to be repaid
- the bank account and sort code details of the person who should receive the payment
If your repayment is going to an agent rather than the purchaser, you’ll need to attach a covering letter and signed purchaser authority. This should be in JPEG or PDF format, and a maximum of 5MB in size.
If you’re an agent acting on behalf of the main buyer, you’ll also need a signed letter of consent from them.
Last updated 10 April 2024 + show all updates
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We have made it clear when you can and cannot apply for a repayment of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) because of exceptional circumstances.
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Following the government’s announcement, we have updated guidance on exceptional circumstances if you bought a new home on or after 1 January 2017 and have been unable to sell your previous home within 3 years.
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Guidance updated following an extension to the time limits for making a repayment claim as announced at Budget 2018.
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An online service is now available.
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Updated the new return address and deleted the DX address
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An online forms service is now available.
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Minor change to URL - removed space from URL.
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First published.