So, the govt has suggested it might suspend stamp duty for a while.

I am poised to exchange contracts on a house purchase (with no
chains).  The stamp duty, on the current definition, will be about
£10,000.  Naturally I don't want to pay £10,000 if I dont have to.  if
I exchange contracts now and the govt changes the rules afterwards
(but before I complete) would I benefit from the new rules?

i suupose m yquestion is really:

Is the stamp duty based on the rules current at the time of exchange
or of completion?

As an aside I would remark that by announcing that they might suspend
stamp duty but without actually doing so yet the govt will bring the
tiny housing market to a stop while people wait to see what the
decision is.   Why did they not just decide and then announce the
decision?

Robert

RobertL wrote:
> So, the govt has suggested it might suspend stamp duty for a while.
>
> I am poised to exchange contracts on a house purchase (with no
> chains).  The stamp duty, on the current definition, will be about
> £10,000.  Naturally I don't want to pay £10,000 if I dont have to.  if
> I exchange contracts now and the govt changes the rules afterwards
> (but before I complete) would I benefit from the new rules?
>
> i suupose m yquestion is really:
>
> Is the stamp duty based on the rules current at the time of exchange
> or of completion?

As I understand it, stamp duty is a tax on the conveyance, not on the 
contract to buy, so it should be paid at the rate applying on completion, 
not on exchange.

As an aside I would remark that by announcing that they might suspend
stamp duty but without actually doing so yet the govt will bring the
tiny housing market to a stop while people wait to see what the
decision is.   Why did they not just decide and then announce the
decision?

Governments tend to do this. They seem totally blind to the effects of this 
sort of statement of intent. I remember Nigel Lawson (Maggie Thatcher's 
much-vaunted Chancellor) announcing a future change to the rules on mortgage 
tax relief on jointly owned property. This caused a flurry of activity prior 
to the change.

Rob Graham

robgraham  wrote:

> As an aside I would remark that by announcing that they might suspend
> stamp duty but without actually doing so yet the govt will bring the
> tiny housing market to a stop while people wait to see what the
> decision is.   Why did they not just decide and then announce the
> decision?

Caution. They want to run the flag up a pole and see how people react.

Seems to me though that they haven't got the cahs to do this. Aren't
they already under warning from the EU due to the current account
deficit?

FoFP

On Wed, 6 Aug 2008 03:42:32 -0700 (PDT), RobertL
 wrote:

>
>So, the govt has suggested it might suspend stamp duty for a while.
>
>I am poised to exchange contracts on a house purchase (with no
>chains).  The stamp duty, on the current definition, will be about
>£10,000.  Naturally I don't want to pay £10,000 if I dont have to.  if
>I exchange contracts now and the govt changes the rules afterwards
>(but before I complete) would I benefit from the new rules?
>
>i suupose m yquestion is really:
>
>Is the stamp duty based on the rules current at the time of exchange
>or of completion?
>
>As an aside I would remark that by announcing that they might suspend
>stamp duty but without actually doing so yet the govt will bring the
>tiny housing market to a stop while people wait to see what the
>decision is.   Why did they not just decide and then announce the
>decision?

Why would you expect the government to do something sensible?
Experience tells us otherwise.  Rememeber the then chancellor sold
large amounts of our gold reserves at a low price and even announced
he was doing it beforehand!

-- 
(\__/)  M.
(='.'=) Owing to the amount of spam posted via googlegroups and
(")_(") their inaction to the problem. I am blocking most articles
posted from there.  If you wish your postings to be seen by
everyone you will need use a different method of posting.
See http://improve-usenet.org

"Norman Wells"  wrote in message 
news:g7c07e$7l0$1$8300dec7@news.demon.co.uk...
> RobertL wrote:
>> So, the govt has suggested it might suspend stamp duty for a while.
>>
>> I am poised to exchange contracts on a house purchase (with no
>> chains).  The stamp duty, on the current definition, will be about
>> £10,000.  Naturally I don't want to pay £10,000 if I dont have to.  if
>> I exchange contracts now and the govt changes the rules afterwards
>> (but before I complete) would I benefit from the new rules?
>>
>> i suupose m yquestion is really:
>>
>> Is the stamp duty based on the rules current at the time of exchange
>> or of completion?
>
> As I understand it, stamp duty is a tax on the conveyance, not on the 
> contract to buy, so it should be paid at the rate applying on completion, 
> not on exchange.

And one of the stories was just that they were going to allow people to 
defer paying it (no mention of with or without interest), like allowing 
people to wait two years before paying is going to make any difference.

tim
>