A refund is a separate eligibility decision
You may pay additional-property SDLT at completion because you still own the previous main home. If you later sell it and meet the replacement conditions, the higher-rate element may be refundable. The entire original bill is not normally refunded.
For a £350,000 qualifying purchase at current rates, the difference between £25,000 higher-rate SDLT and £7,500 standard SDLT is £17,500. This illustration assumes UK residence, an individual buyer and no other adjustments. Your actual repayment depends on the transaction.
Check both deadlines
The usual requirement is to dispose of the previous main home within three years of buying the new one. For sales on or after 29 October 2018, HMRC must generally receive the claim by the later of 12 months after the sale and 12 months after the filing date of the return for the new home.
The sale window and the claim deadline answer different questions. Keep a record of both. HMRC has limited exceptional-circumstances provisions, but ordinary delays in a property chain do not automatically extend the period.
Prepare a record of the transaction
Start with the original return, transaction reference, completion details for the new home, sale details for the previous home, the tax paid and the amount requested back. Check that the ownership and main-residence conditions match the facts.
Submit a claim through the official HMRC process or your authorised adviser. StampDutyCal does not submit refund claims or receive repayment money. Do not send bank details or copies of your conveyancing documents to our general contact inbox.
Other refunds use different rules
The non-resident SDLT surcharge has its own repayment conditions linked to UK presence. Scotland’s ADS and Welsh higher-rate LTT also have separate repayment provisions. Do not assume the SDLT claim deadline or form applies across all three systems.
Our calculators show the tax under your selected current circumstances. They do not anticipate a future refund. When preparing a completion budget, allow for the amount due upfront and treat any potential recovery as a separate matter.
RESEARCH & CORRECTIONS
Sources and review
Researched and maintained by StampDutyCal. Checked on against the official sources below. This is our own research, not an independent professional tax review. We update the website when rules change.