A company’s acquisition of a residential property was for the purposes of redevelopment; it was not wrong to have claimed relief from the higher rate of stamp duty land tax on that basis, and therefore penalties for a deliberate inaccuracy in the stamp duty land tax return were not payable.  

Summary

A company’s acquisition of a residential property was for the purposes of redevelopment; it was not wrong to have claimed relief from the higher rate of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on that basis, and therefore penalties for a deliberate inaccuracy in the SDLT return were not payable.

Background

The appellant company exchanged contracts for the purchase of a four bedroomed detached bungalow (H) in Stamford in June 2016. The property had been advertised as requiring updating with development potential, and the appellant was a property developer.

The appellant’s SDLT return