The Society of Licensed Conveyancers (SLC) has recently criticised the Government’s introduction of a 3% stamp duty surcharge, arguing that the proposed “attack on smaller investors” will lead to increased delays for purchasers.
The second-home surcharge, expected to be introduced in April 2016, will affect anybody buying additional residential properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
SLC chairman, Simon Law, said that: “Aside from the seeming attack on smaller investors (those owning 15 or more properties are exempt from the surcharge) and the likelihood of the reform not achieving its objectives, it is also likely to cause delays to property transactions.
“It appears to place undue responsibility on conveyancing lawyers not only to discover the circumstances of every purchase that they handle, but also to detect when clients may not be disclosing other property assets”.
The chairman added that for a Government apparently dedicated to accelerating the speed of property transactions, these “new levels of bureaucracy” could create significant delays for the majority of purchasers.
“SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) is a tax and ultimately HMRC must take responsibility for policing this new obligation and detecting where buyers do not disclose that they own other assets.
“It is unreasonable and an abdication of responsibility to expect conveyancers to police this new tax,” said Mr Law.
The SLC expressed Law’s views to the Treasury at a consultation on the surcharge which took place late last week.