Hi folks In the Property secrets article: "How to avoid stamp duty - Part II" of 31st August 2005 it states: "Keep transactions single if buying in bulk If you are buying more than one unit in a building, you can reduce stamp duty significantly by keeping each transaction separate. So, if you bought four units at say £115,000 each in a single building, you would pay no stamp duty as each individual unit comes below the £120,000 stamp duty threshold. If the transactions are linked, the purchase price is taken as a whole at £460,000 for the four units. There would be a stamp duty liability of 3% - or £13,800. Be very clear with developers and your solicitor that your transactions are not to be linked." I making just this kind of purchase and my solicitor tells me that its not allowed - Revenue and Customs will find me out and charge me the full amount. I have arranged individual mortgages, asked the developer to prepare leasholds etc and everything. But my solicitor doesn't think that I can avoid linking. Here is the HRR&C webpage http: / /www .hmrc .gov .uk /manuals /sdltmanual /sdltm30100 .htm Has anyone been in this situation? What was the result? Does anyone know of property-specialist accountants who could help? Thanks Ed

Ed Try writing to the Stamp Office for clarification. I did this on a similar matter when my solicitor said I had to pay duty on a part-ex. The Stamp Office wrote back and clarified the rules. I didn't give property details so as not to queer my pitch if it came to an argument. This didn't seem to present them with a problem. Nick

There are many schemes on top of our suggestion in the book. These are not needed in this case. You simply need to arrange different completion dates for each property and ensure there is no arragement in place to acquire all the properties. Colin Davison

Thanks Colin, this is great news and will save me a massive amount of money - especially important as its invested capital. I am seeking to contact you via PS directly (I've checked that they are happy with this) I guess I'll need something tangible to show the solicitors who will need reassuring that they are not illegally evading tax, merely avoiding it for me. Some details .... what constitutes 'and agreement in place to aquire all the properties'? A verbal agreement? A single letter from the estate agent to all parties that the sale is made on all units? Or a formal signed contract? Shall I agree the price of the freehold and then buy that on another day, or include it with the most expensive flat? Can the purchases be done on subsequent days, or a longer period between them? Finally .. the book you mention. This does not seem to be the PS Tax Secrets ebook, which is by another author and has nothing on this topic in its section 3.3 on Stamp Duty. Where can we get the book? Again many thanks (you can tell I'm thrilled) Ed

I have had further correspondence with Colin Davison by email. Here is a fuller account of his recommendations to avoid purchases being linked. If I make a mistake I trust that he will correct me. Firstly make sure that the estate agent and solicitor fully understand that the purchases are completely independent. If you are buying all six flats in a block, get the agent to write six separate letters each time they need to write. Get the solicitor to open six accounts and submit six bills. There should be nothing in writing to show a single deal. Ideally exchange contracts and complete on the same day for each purchase. Buy flat 1 on day 1 in this way, then buy flat 2 on the next working day … and so on. A one day difference is enough. You are perhaps opening yourself to being ‘ambushed’ by the vendor, suddenly increasing the price of the last flat, for example. However, this risk you are incurring is demonstrating that the purchases are not linked. If you cannot exchange and complete on the same day, eg off-plan purchases, then the exchanges of contracts must all be separated by at least a day, and then the completions must also be separated by at least a day.