SDLT Achievements Log

Welcome to the new SDLT Achievements Log.

We listen to what our customers (including our main SDLT stakeholders) tell us and, wherever possible, make changes to improve our services. Here are some of the suggestions we’ve had recently – and how we’ve positively responded to them.

The log will be updated regularly.

What you said

Letters asking for information about returns (SDLT8s) are difficult to understand.

What we have done:

  • We revised the SDLT 8 wording - but went further than that. We now have a team who correct obvious errors on returns without having to contact customers at all. Where clarification is needed, they telephone customers to clear discrepancies quickly. SDLT8 letters are now only issued if we are can’t make contact by phone.
  • Online filing guarantees that customers never receive SDLT 8s. The built-in validation means the return won’t be submitted unless all the necessary questions have been answered.

More practical help with Online Filing is needed - either by phone or on agents’ premises.

What we have done:

  • We set up an ‘Outreach Team’ to provide a tailored service to SDLT practitioners. They visit individual firms and make presentations at conferences or Law Society organised events. If you would like to know more, see the web page above or contact Rachel Varndell on 0207 1472 794.

Online filing should be continually promoted to encourage more people to use it.

What we have done:

  • Online filing is the preferred method for most customers -
    46 per cent of them now file returns in this way. It is promoted in Practitioners’ and Technical Newsletters, Outreach events, through liaison with Rep. Bodies and stakeholders (and their publications) and on this website.

There are a number of online filing enhancements that would make life much easier for practitioners, including:

  • making the SDLT 5 certificate easier to identify
  • removing unnecessary questions from the return enabling longer company names to be entered.

What we have done:

  • Question 58 ‘To which address shall we send the certificate? was removed’.
  • Up to 56 characters for surnames/company names are now accepted.
  • ‘Code 30’ was introduced to cover Zero Carbon Relief.
Further details will be included in Issue 20 of SDLT Practitioners’ News (due to be published shortly.)

Address the problems caused by 2D barcoded forms

What we have done:

  • With the success of online filing, the percentage of bar-coded returns has dropped to 18 per cent.
  • We now return 2D bar-coded returns that fail scanning, with guidance as to why. Customers have been notified about the change of approach since March 2007.
  • Acceptance of 2D barcoded forms will cease at some point during 2008. Customers who use this method will be given sufficient time to switch to other methods of filing.
  • Commercial software providers who have 2D barcoded forms but no online filing product are being given the opportunity to develop one.

Make it possible for more types of transactions to be filed online

What we have done:

  • Most transactions can now be filed online. For the few exceptions, some practitioners use 2D barcoded returns, developed using Case Management software. When acceptance of 2D barcoded forms ceases, such returns should be sent to Birmingham Stamp Office for manual processing.
  • Notifications made under section 80, 81, 81A, 17 and Schedule 17A Paragraph 3&4 and Paragraph 8 to the Finance Act 2003 are already dealt with in this way. (Practitioners have the option of putting the details in a letter or drafting their own versions of the forms).
  • Users of certain commercial software products can complete forms electronically and send them to Birmingham.

Allow more ‘categories’ of customers to file online

What we have done:

  • Local authorities and government departments, who previously couldn’t register for online filing (due to lack of a ‘unique identifier’) can now do so. We have written to every local and County Council in the UK inviting them to take advantage of the service.

Customer service should be continuously improved to provide practitioners with a faster, more efficient service

What we have done:

  • We have doubled the number of advisers on our Helpline. Calls are answered faster - with very short, if any, waiting times. Currently 93 per cent of calls are dealt with ‘on the day’.
  • Helpline staff can now make changes to some returns over the phone, so customers don’t always have to write in.
  • 69 per cent of land transaction certificates are now issued within five working days.
  • To reduce the amount of paper generated by the SDLT process, it’s possible that, in future, certain letters may only be issued to agents.
  • Stamp Taxes work is now dealt with in fewer locations, with a central office in Birmingham. This provides increased flexibility and allows us to deliver a better service to customers
  • To help us deal with correspondence faster, we have asked customers to mark letters for Birmingham Stamp Office, with the topic being covered.

Signing SDLT60s (certification that no return is required for a land transaction) is time consuming and unnecessary

What we have done:

  • Legislation is in place for online SDLT60s to be submitted through electronic registration systems without the need for a client signature (although agents will need to keep evidence of clients’ approvals).
  • Scotland will benefit from this change first, when the Automated Registration of Title to Land system is introduced there - though it is hoped that eventually this will available throughout the UK.
  • Stamp Taxes will explore with practitioner/conveyancing representative bodies the possibility of extending this provision to paper SDLT60s. And, more generally, what provision can be made if an SDLT1 Return is not required - for example whether a letter from an agent would be acceptable, rather than an SDLT 60.

SDLT guidance is not complete and sometimes difficult to understand

What we have done:

  • A new onscreen HTML version of the SDLT6 Guidance notes is now available on the Stamp Taxes website. It will shortly be available on Stamp Taxes Online when users click the ‘query’ button. Guidance on how to use this version is also now available.
  • An HTML version of the SDLT Manual’s Lease Chapter is also available on this website. This replaces the PDF version
  • Chapters on Scottish Leases and Partnerships are being worked on.

It’s not easy to navigate around the Stamp Taxes internet site and some of the information is out-of-date

What we have done:

  • As part of the overall HMRC Web Convergence programme, we constantly work on the site, to make improvements to its content and navigation. Customers will start to see more changes as planned changes filter through from 2008/09.
  • We are also working hard to improve the content of our online filing screens.

We need to be kept better informed about Stamp Taxes legislation

What we have done:

  • Details of SDLT Budget and Pre-Budget Report announcements are signposted on the HMRC Website. They are followed up by items on Stamp Taxes’ pages, as necessary.
  • We set up SDLT ‘Working Together’ Groups to communicate and consult with appropriate Rep Bodies and key external stakeholders.
  • We also publish SDLT Practitioners’ Newsletters and Technical Newsletters to keep SDLT practitioners informed.

We need to be kept updated on the latest plans for Automated Registration of Title to Land (ARTL) when buying property in Scotland and for e-conveyancing in England & Wales

What we have done:

  • We keep customers informed of ARTL and e conveyancing developments that affect SDLT through the channels shown in the previous column. The latest news:

e-conveyancing in England & Wales

  • During 2008 Land Registry (England & Wales) is concentrating the development of its e-conveyancing service on:
    • Electronic Charge in standard format (e- CSF).
    • Electronic DS1 (e-DS1).

and on enhancements to our e-lodgement forms service, increasing the numbers of forms that can be lodged and removing some present limitations.

2009 will see the introduction of electronic TR1 (e -TR1) alongside the ability to submit SDLT returns.

Automated Registration of Title to Land (ARTL) - for Scotland only

  • ARTL will enable conveyancing professionals to submit a specified range of applications for registration in the Land Register electronically using secure internet links. ARTL also involves joined-up Government with HM Revenue & Customs whereby the ARTL system will collect SDLT data and tax as part of the transfer of title process. ARTL was initially introduced in August 2007 for charge transactions (standard securities and discharges of standard securities). The functionality for transfer of title transactions and the associated electronic SDLT land transaction return is expected to be introduced in the second quarter of this year. There is significant support for ARTL from within the Scottish conveyancing community.