If you have to pay Stamp Duty on share or land transactions, you have 30 days to get your documents stamped and pay the duty. If your documents are late and you don't have a good reason, you may have to pay a penalty and interest.
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If you have to pay Stamp Duty, you need to get your documents stamped within 30 days of when they were signed and dated ('executed'). If you don't meet this deadline you may have to pay a penalty and interest.
If your documents were executed abroad, you have 30 days after first receiving them in the UK to get them stamped. You'll need to confirm in writing the date the documents were received in the UK.
If your documents are late by 12 months or less, the maximum penalty you'll pay is the lower of:
If your documents are more than 12 months late, the maximum penalty you'll pay is the higher of:
You will have to pay the penalty as well as the Stamp Duty that's due.
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) will only cancel a penalty if you have a reasonable excuse for submitting your documents late.
Some examples of a 'reasonable excuse' include:
These are only some examples and HMRC will consider each case on its own merits.
Some examples of excuses that HMRC won't accept as reasonable include:
Note that if the reason for the delay was a personal one, HMRC won't accept it as reasonable if it didn't prevent you from dealing with your other affairs.
In most cases, HMRC won't charge you the maximum penalty. In straightforward cases, they use the tables of reduced charges shown below. The level of penalty depends on the amount of Stamp Duty due and how late the documents are.
The penalty may be reduced further if you can give a good reason for the lateness of the document. But in some cases the penalty may be higher than is shown in the tables, depending on individual circumstances.
Amount of Stamp Duty |
Under 3 months |
Under 6 months |
Under 9 months |
Under 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
up to £300 |
Nil |
The lesser of £20 or amount of duty |
The lesser of £40 or amount of duty |
The lesser of £60 or amount of duty |
£305-£700 |
£20 |
£40 |
£60 |
£80 |
£705-£1,350 |
£40 |
£60 |
£80 |
£100 |
£1,355-£2,500 |
£60 |
£80 |
£100 |
£150 |
£2,505-£5,000 |
£80 |
£100 |
£150 |
£200 |
Over £5,000 |
£100 |
£150 |
£200 |
£300 |
Amount of Stamp Duty |
Under 15 months |
Under 18 months |
Under 21 months |
Under 24 months |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Under £5000 |
The greater of £100 or 15% of the duty |
The greater of £150 or 25% of the duty |
The greater of £200 or 35% of the duty |
The greater of £250 or 45% of the duty |
Over £5000 |
20% of the duty |
40% of the duty |
60% of the duty |
80% of the duty |
If a document is over 24 months late, the penalty is the higher of:
Once HMRC has notified you of the amount of the penalty, you have 14 days in which to pay it.
If you don't pay the full amount of Stamp Duty on time you'll have to pay interest from the day after you should have paid it until the date when you pay it. This is on top of any penalty you have to pay for sending in your documents late.
The amount of interest you pay depends on:
HMRC uses the official rate of interest set by HM Treasury to work out how much you have to pay. If the interest works out at less than £25, you won't have to pay it.
Once HMRC has notified you of the amount of interest due, you have 14 days in which to pay it. Note that you can't appeal against interest charges.
Check the interest rate HMRC charges on late Stamp Duty payments
HMRC will only stamp your documents if you pay the full amount of Stamp Duty that's due, plus any penalty and interest. If you don't pay the full amount, HMRC will write to you and tell you how much extra you need to pay. They will either return your documents unstamped, along with any duty you've paid or keep the documents until full payment is made.
As long as you pay the amount within the time stated in the letter the documents will be stamped and returned to you, otherwise additional interest may be charged. (Important: don't forget to re-send the documents with your payment if they were returned to you.)
An unstamped document can't be used for any legal purpose so it's in your interests to pay the full amount and get it stamped.
If you are sending your documents late and are not sure how much you will need to pay you can ask HMRC for their opinion. They will give you their view on how much to pay so that you can send payment along with the transfer documents for stamping. In rare cases where you don't agree with the amount of the penalty charged you can ask for a more formal opinion - known as an 'adjudication'. In these cases HMRC will send you a formal letter or 'adjudication notice'
Read more about getting an opinion in our guide below.
Getting an opinion on a Stamp Duty payment or penalty
You have the right to appeal against any Stamp Duty penalty that you disagree with. You must do this in writing within 30 days of receiving the formal adjudication notice.
Include any reference number you have in your appeal letter. Mark your letter 'Stamp Duty' and send it to HMRC Birmingham Stamp Office.
Birmingham Stamp Office contact details
Most appeals are settled by reaching an agreement with HMRC. But if you are unable to agree a settlement there are other options. You can ask HMRC to review their decision, or you can ask an independent tribunal to consider your appeal.
How to appeal against an HMRC decision – direct tax
Interest isn't a penalty - it's a commercial charge to compensate HMRC for not getting the money when they should have. So you can't appeal against the charge.
But if you think you shouldn't be charged any interest, or if you think you've been charged too much, you can write to the Finance Team at the Birmingham Stamp Office to explain why.
Mark your letter 'Stamp Duty' and include any reference number you have. Send it to HMRC Birmingham Stamp Office.
