Stamp duty refund on higher rates: reclaiming the surcharge after selling your old home

Who can claim the SDLT refund

HMRC’s guidance on the higher rates says you can apply for a refund of “the higher SDLT rate part of your Stamp Duty bill” if you sell or give away your previous main home within 3 years of buying your new home.

Couples. The higher-rate rules treat spouses and civil partners as buying together (unless permanently separated), so a share kept by your spouse blocks the refund. For separations, see divorce and the family home.

Took longer than 3 years? HMRC accepts a late sale only if you bought the new home on or after 1 January 2017 and exceptional circumstances stopped the sale, such as government-imposed restrictions or an action by a public authority. HMRC says normal events do not count: not finding a buyer at your price, slow negotiations or a broken chain. You must sell without further delay once the obstacle ends, then write to HMRC.

The deadline

The SDLT return is due within 14 days of completion, so the filing date is 14 days after the effective date of the purchase. For almost every sale made more than a year after the purchase, the deadline is simply 12 months after the sale.

How to apply

1. Gather the details HMRC lists: the main buyer’s details, the new property and its effective date, the SDLT unique transaction reference number (UTRN), the old home’s address, sale date and buyer’s name, the tax paid, the amount you are claiming, and the bank account for the repayment.
2. Apply online. HMRC’s form needs a sign-in (you can create sign-in details) and cannot be saved part-way. The main buyer or an agent acting for them can use it; since 10 March 2025 agents can also apply online.
3. Or apply on paper. If you cannot use the online service, HMRC points to form SDLT16, filled in on screen, printed and posted to the address on the form.
4. Paying the refund to someone else (for example your solicitor) needs a covering letter and a signed authority from the buyer.

GOV.UK says HMRC usually pays into your bank account within 15 working days of receiving the claim. HMRC also warns that it pays refunds quickly without checking eligibility first, can open a compliance check later, and that a refund paid in error must be repaid with interest and possibly a penalty. Exceptional-circumstances claims go by letter to BT Stamp Duty Land Tax, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1HD.

Worked example: England, assumed figures

These numbers are an illustration chosen by Payotte, not an HMRC example. Rates are those in force since 1 April 2025 (see Stamp Duty Land Tax and higher rates on additional properties).

Assumptions: you complete on a £400,000 new main home in England on 1 March 2026 while still owning your old main home, then sell the old home on 1 June 2027.

• Refund to claim: £30,000 − £10,000 = £20,000. Because the higher rates add 5 points to every band, the refund is 5% of the price.
• Sale within 3 years? Yes: 1 June 2027 is within 3 years of 1 March 2026.
• Deadline: the SDLT filing date was 15 March 2026; 12 months after the sale is 1 June 2028, which is later, so that is the deadline.

The example assumes no other relief and a UK-resident buyer; the 2% non-UK resident surcharge is a separate charge with its own refund (see the non-UK resident surcharge).

Scotland: repayment of the Additional Dwelling Supplement

In Scotland the extra tax is the Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS): 8% of the purchase price for transactions on or after 5 December 2024 (6% before, for contracts entered into on or before 4 December 2024). See LBTT in Scotland.

Revenue Scotland says you can claim a repayment if all of these apply:

1. you sell your previous property within 36 months of buying the new one;
2. the property you sold was your only or main residence at some time in the 36 months before you bought the new one;
3. you have lived in the new property as your only or main residence.

For transactions with an effective date up to 31 March 2024, the window is 18 months, not 36. From 1 April 2024, only one joint buyer needs to meet conditions 1 and 2, but every buyer must meet condition 3. Revenue Scotland states it “is unable to consider any exceptional circumstances” when the conditions are not met.

How to claim. Taxpayers use Revenue Scotland’s online repayment claim; paper claims by post are no longer accepted. The agent who filed the original LBTT return amends it in the SETS system instead. Revenue Scotland aims to repay within 10 working days and pays interest on the repayment.

Deadline. Revenue Scotland’s technical guidance (LBTT10070): amend the LBTT return within the 12-month amendment period, or, after that, make a claim within 5 years of the tax return due date. A claim made more than 12 months after the return needs proof of sale, such as the disposition or Land Register documents.

Assumed example: a £300,000 home bought in Scotland with ADS at 8% = £24,000 of ADS, all of it repayable if the old main home is sold within 36 months.

Wales: refund of the Land Transaction Tax higher rates

Wales has its own higher-rates table for Land Transaction Tax. The Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) says you must have sold your previous main residence within 3 years of buying the new property; a longer period can apply in certain situations set out in its technical guidance. The refund is usually the tax paid at the higher rates minus what would have been due at the main rates.

How to claim. The buyer, the solicitor or conveyancer who acted on the purchase (if still acting), or someone authorised applies with the WRA’s online form. You need the 12-digit UTRN, the effective date, the old home’s address, buyer details and bank details, plus evidence of the sale: a signed and dated TR1, TP1 or contract of sale for a home in England or Wales, or a completion statement for a home elsewhere. Processing usually takes 15 to 20 working days.

Deadline. Within 12 months of the filing date you amend your LTT return; after that, the WRA says you can still make a refund claim, usually within 4 years (its technical guidance counts 4 years from the day after the filing date of the return).

Assumed example, rates from 11 December 2024: a £300,000 home costs £19,950 at the higher rates and £4,500 at the main rates (0% to £225,000, 6% on the next £75,000). Refund: £15,450.

The three refunds side by side

Which professional to consult

The conveyancer who handled the purchase holds the UTRN and the transfer documents and can file the claim for you with your signed authority. To check what you paid against the main rates, use the stamp duty calculator. Selling the old home has its own costs: see the costs of selling a home.