Stamp Duty

[lillythepink]

Hi All

I am looking to purchase a property and I know that the stamp duty is increased from 1% to 3% above �250,000. I think that in order to secure a property (as there is fierce competition in our area) I may need to offer a few thousand above �250,000.

I have heard that you can aviod paying the 3% stamp duty by offering �250,000 and then any additional as a seperate payment for "fixtures and fittings".

What is the maximum that I would be able to get away with offering as "fixtures and fittings" as the extra �5,000 I would need to pay in stamp duty means that I wouldn't be able to afford a lot of the properties I would like to look at.

Many thanks

[buildersmate]

This is what HMRC has to say on the matter.
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/sdltmanual/SDLT M04010.htm

[lillythepink]

That's very interesting (and useful, I would have thought that a bathroom suite would have been included as fixtures and fittings). Seems that the most you could reasonably call fixtures and fittings would be a couple of grand.

Thank you!

[BenDToy]

When we bought our house, we identified a sum of �14k for fixtures and fittings. The "white goods" are very upmarket and cost a lot of money, so it was defensible, but no-one ever fully questioned it. I think �5k sounds not unreasonable in a �250k property.