Stamp duty on son's flat

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

Iam considering purchasing a 50% share of my son's apartment for £80,000. Will this be subject to stamp duty? What if I purchase the remaining 50% for a similar sum at a later date? KD, Liverpool

Drew Wotherspoon of independent mortgage broker John Charcol replies:

The answer to the first question posed is a simple no. As the £80,000 is well below the £120,000 stamp duty threshold, there will be no duty to pay on this. However, unsurprisingly, if you purchase the remaining half of the flat at a later date you may be liable for stamp duty.

Our advice would be to complete the original £80,000 with no pre-conceptions about what you may do later. If you buy the remaining half of the flat soon then there is every chance the Inland Revenue will treat it as one transaction, implying that the only reason for two separate transactions was to avoid stamp duty.

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