Property transactions where no money or other consideration changes hands.Property or land may be given away or the ownership transferred to another person for no ‘chargeable consideration’. This means that no money changes hands, and there is no other exchange which has a monetary value, such as a mortgage debt. This type of property transaction is exempt from SDLT and HMRC doesn’t need to be notified.
Find out about the chargeable consideration and how it’s calculated
Property left in a will
In almost all cases, when property is left to another person in a will it’s exempt from SDLT and HMRC doesn’t need to be notified. This includes property that has outstanding debt on it, for example a mortgage.
It also applies to a transaction which changes the terms of a will (within two years of someone dying) so that a different beneficiary receives a property. Provided the new beneficiary doesn’t make any compensation payment – including the assumption of liability for a mortgage – the transaction is exempt from SDLT and HMRC doesn’t need to be notified. (A corresponding variation in the terms of the will in favour of the original beneficiary doesn’t count as a compensation payment – for example leaving them something else instead of the property. In this case there would still be no need to complete an SDLT return.)
Divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership
When a couple get divorced or separate – or end their civil partnership – and the parties agree to split their property and land between them, or the property is split under the terms of a court order, it’s exempt from SDLT and HMRC doesn’t need to be notified.
