End of SDLT in Wales

That got your attention.

Stamp duty land tax applied, when it was introduced, to transactions involving UK land. Since 2015 transactions involving Scottish land have been subject to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in Scotland instead of SDLT. This has no practical effect for most English lawyers because they are not advising on Scottish land law anyway.

From 1  April 2018, however, Welsh land will be subject to Land Transaction Tax rather than stamp duty land tax, which from then on will apply only to land in England and Northern Ireland. Although the two taxes are very similar, there are differences, including in relation to thresholds and rates.

If you are dealing with a portfolio of properties in both England and Wales – or properties which physically straddle the border, including the two or three buildings that are in both countries – you need to do an SDLT return for the English land and an LTT return for the Welsh land. If the land straddles the border, you apportion the consideration for the purposes of putting in two separate returns.

The good news? Welsh transactions and English transactions can no longer be linked transactions for the purposes of either tax. The bad news – you need to get up to speed with LTT, or find somebody who is able to advise.