The discretionary right to enquire into any land transaction
return means that a compliance caseworker should be able to open
enquiries in a non-confrontational way, without long drawn out
arguments about whether there are adequate grounds for taking the
case up.
Reminders to purchasers or agents should not be issued,
either in a letter or on the telephone, without at the same time
taking some more positive action.
Reminders along the lines of `I do not appear to have heard
from you' are unlikely to lead to a substantive response and will
only drag out the time it takes to bring the enquiry to a
conclusion.
The stamp duty land tax legislation provides a structured
framework for dealing with enquiries into land transaction returns
and the stages of the enquiry are clearly set out. The enquiry
framework encourages building a dialogue and relationship with the
purchaser and their agent, which should also assist in prevention
of delay.
If a purchaser or agent has not produced the information
requested it should be considered whether they can be helped to
comply. A compliance caseworker should always be prepared to
respond positively to any reasonable request from the purchaser or
agent to examine documents or hold meetings at the purchaser's or
agent's premises.
In appropriate cases contacting the purchaser directly if it
is believed that the delay is being caused by the agent should be
considered.
The normal response to lack of co-operation or delaying tactics
on the part of the purchaser or agent will be the use of the formal
information powers at FA03/SCH10/PARA14.
FA03/SCH13 also contains formal information powers, which are
more widely drawn than those in FA03/SCH10. It is unlikely that
these will be used except in the most serious cases. See
SDLTM84510+.
A Revenue amendment to a purchaser’s self-assessment may be made if there is reason to believe that the tax payable is insufficient, and there is likely to be a loss of tax to the Crown, by virtue of FA03/SCH10/PARA17. See SDLTM81900+.
The only HM Revenue & Customs assessments under stamp duty land tax are discovery assessments and these should not be made routinely. See SDLTM84210.
Exceptionally non-co-operation may have the compliance caseworker be countered by issuing a closure notice. See SDLTM82450+.
