Stamp Duty: getting an opinion about a payment or penalty
Find out from HMRC how much Stamp Duty, penalties or interest you need to pay on transfers of shares.
When you submit land or share transfer documents to HMRC, you must also send the correct amount of Stamp Duty payment and any late payment penalties or interest that may be due.
If you’re unsure of how much to pay or of whether you can claim Stamp Duty relief or an exemption, you can ask us to clarify matters for you. This is called requesting an ‘informal opinion’. You can also request an informal opinion for Stamp Duty on land and property transactions made before 3 December 2003.
What HMRC can tell you
If you request an informal opinion about the amount of Stamp Duty in relation to your transfer of shares or land, we can tell you, for example:
- how much Stamp Duty is chargeable on a specific transfer
- if any penalties are due in relation to the transfer
- how much interest is due in cases of late payment of Stamp Duty
- if you can apply for Stamp Duty relief
- if your transfer is exempt from Stamp Duty
We can only give you an informal opinion about whether a relief applies before the transaction has taken place. If the transfer has taken place, then you will instead need to submit a formal claim for relief to us.
There may be other questions that you want us to answer relating to the Stamp Duty that applies to your transfer of shares. The transfer does not need to have taken place for you to request an informal opinion about it.
How to request an informal opinion
To request an informal opinion, email HMRC Stamp Office stating clearly what you want us to give our view on, quoting any reference that you have. Mark the email subject ‘Stamp Duty informal opinion’.
To help us to deal with your request as quickly as possible, send electronic copies (for example, a scanned PDF) of any relevant documents, such as stock transfer forms.
If you are unable to send your request electronically, you may contact HMRC by post.
Receiving a response
If the informal opinion relates to the amount you must pay
Send the transfer document and the payment indicated in the informal opinion to us if the transfer has already taken place (for example, the transfer document has already been executed).
If the transfer has not taken place yet, for example, there’s no executed document, you do not need to do anything until the transfer takes place. At that point you should send us both the transfer document and the payment indicated in the informal opinion.
If the informal opinion relates to Stamp Duty relief or exemption
If the informal opinion that you receive from HMRC says that you can claim relief, once the transaction has taken place send the transfer document to us so that it can be processed.
If the informal opinion tells you that the transfer is exempt from Stamp Duty, you do not need to send the transfer document or any payment to us.
If you cannot claim relief and your transfer is not exempt from Stamp Duty, you must send your documents and accompanying Stamp Duty payment to the HMRC Stamp Office.
If you disagree with HMRC
Most queries about Stamp Duty are resolved by an informal opinion.
However, if you have strong grounds for disagreeing with HMRC’s informal opinion, you can request that your query is reconsidered. In this case, we will issue a formal opinion.
We will only issue a formal opinion in rare cases of ongoing disagreement. You must make sure that you have solid reasons for disagreeing with the informal opinion before requesting a formal one.
To request a formal opinion, contact HMRC and tell us why you disagree. Your request must be accompanied by copies of any relevant documents.
If you want to discuss your concerns with us before requesting a formal opinion, contact the Stamp Taxes Helpline.
Last updated 27 March 2020 + show all updates
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To stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), claims for relief on Stamp Duty should be temporarily sent to HMRC by email.
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First published.