SDLT Tax Terms and Conditions
SDLT Tax is a trading name of MJS Tax Advisory Limited (‘MJS Tax’).
1. Definitions
1.1. “Stamp Duty” Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) in England and Northern Ireland, Land Transaction Tax (LTT) in Wales; Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) in Scotland.
1.2. “Tax Authority” His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in England and Northern Ireland, Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) in Wales; Revenue Scotland in Scotland.
2. Who we are acting for
2.1. We are acting for you and any spouse, partner or individual named as a joint purchaser.
2.2. This service will be provided by MJS Tax Advisory Limited, trading as SDLT Tax. MJS Tax Advisory Limited is a company registered in England and Wales with registration number 12207526. The registered office is The Old Coach House, Olivers Lane, Malmesbury, SN16 9AF.
3. Our Service to You
3.1. We will seek a refund or reduction of Stamp Duty by valuing items that fall outside of the scope of Stamp Duty and removing them from the Stamp Duty calculations.
3.2. Where a refund of Stamp Duty is sought, we will apply for the refund from the Tax Authority. All refunds will be paid into our regulated client monies account.
3.3. Where a reduction of Stamp Duty is sought for an initial filing, i.e. at purchase, we will provide our chattels valuation report to you and/or your solicitor. Your solicitor will submit the Stamp Duty return. We do not submit Stamp Duty returns.
4. Your Responsibilities
4.1. To enable us to carry out our work you agree to provide us with full and accurate information regarding the acquisition, including the documents specified by the relevant Tax Authority to make a refund application. If we do not receive this information or if we think the information provide is false we may terminate this agreement.
4.2. You agree to give us authority to act on your behalf in dealing with the relevant Tax Authority for the processing of a Stamp Duty refund application and receipt of any refund payment. You agree to sign a separate Letter of Authority, either electronic or hardcopy, to satisfy the Tax Authority’s requirements. We do not seek authorisation to deal with any other tax issues on your behalf.
5. Fee
5.1. The fee for this service is 25% of any refund or reduction of Stamp Duty, plus VAT. If the reduction in Stamp Duty is nil, our fee will be zero.
5.2. The fee will be calculated as shown in the example calculation below:
5.2.1. Reduction of Stamp Duty, say, £10,000 (A)
5.2.2. Fee rate, 25% (B)
5.2.3. Total fee ( = A x B) £10,000 x 25% = £2,500 (C) (plus VAT)
5.2.4. Total fee including VAT (C + 20% x C) = £2,500 + (£2,500 x 20%) = £3,000
5.3. This fee includes all time, disbursement and travel expenses. No other charges apply.
5.4. We will raise our fee invoice on the receipt of the payment of any refund by the relevant Tax Authority. Our fee will be deducted from the refund received and the balance of the refund will be forwarded to your nominated bank account within 3 working days.
5.5. In the unlikely event all or part of our work is rejected and consequently the Total Fee would be less than the amount calculated as per C above, we will refund the difference due to you in full plus any interest and/or penalties charged by the relevant Tax Authority.
5.6. Where we reduce the Stamp Duty paid on a first submission (i.e. no refund application is made), we will raise our invoice when we provide the valuation report to you and/or your solicitor; payment terms are 7 days. Our fee will be 25% of the reduced amount of Stamp Duty payable, compared with if our service has not been used.
6. Client Monies
6.1. The refund from the Tax Authority will be paid to us. Such money will be held in trust in a client bank account which is segregated from the firm’s funds. The account will be operated and all funds dealt with in accordance with the Clients’ Monies Rules of The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). These rules can be found on the RICS website: RICS Client Money Protection
6.2. We may deduct our fees from the money we hold on your behalf, only when doing so in accordance with the fees due under this agreement and where we present you with a VAT invoice for the work we have completed.
6.3. The name of the client money account is MJS Tax Advisory Limited Client Account. This account is with Barclays Bank, Clapham Junction Branch, 7 St John’s Hill, London, SW11 1TR.
6.4. Access to the client money account is restricted to directors and senior employees of the company. We do not accept cash or cheques, any deposits, should they be required, must be via bank transfer.
6.5. No interest is paid on funds held in the client account.
6.6. Any unidentified funds will be donated to charity after 3 years.
6.7. No statements or schedules will be provided. Clients may request a schedule at any time.
7. Professional Rules and Practice Guidelines
7.1. We will observe the byelaws, regulations and ethical guidelines of The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and accept instructions to act for you on the basis that we will act in accordance with those guidelines.
7.2. A copy of our complaints handling procedure is available on request
8. Limitation of Liability
8.1. The advice that we give to you is for your sole use and does not constitute advice to any third party to whom you may communicate it.
8.2. We will provide the professional services outlined in these terms with reasonable care and skill. However, we will not be responsible for any losses, penalties, surcharges, interest or additional tax liabilities arising from the supply by you or others of incorrect or incomplete information, or from the failure by you or others to supply any appropriate information or your failure to act on our advice or respond promptly to communications from us or the Tax Authorities.
8.3. So far as the law allows our total liability to you for any direct loss or damage caused by our negligence or breach of contract (except deliberate breach) is limited to the lower of £100,000 or ten times our fee under this agreement. We do not accept liability for any indirect or consequential loss or loss of profits. This limitation does not apply in respect of fraud or death or personal injury caused by our negligence or breach of contract.
9. Applicable Law
9.1. This engagement is governed by and construed in accordance with, English law.
10. Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999
10.1. A person who is not party to this agreement shall have no right under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any term of this agreement. This clause does not affect any right or remedy of any person, which exists or is available otherwise than pursuant to that Act.
11. Communication
11.1. Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments.
11.2. With electronic communication, there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted through emails or electronic storage devices. However electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses nor for communications that are corrupted or altered after despatch. Nor can we accept any liability for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. These are risks you must bear in return for greater efficiency and lower costs. If you do not wish to accept these risks please let us know and we will communicate by paper mail, other than where electronic submission is mandatory.
11.3. Any communication by us with you sent through the post is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent.
12. Confidentiality
12.1. Communication between us is confidential and we shall take all reasonable steps to keep confidential your information except where we are required to disclose it by law, by regulatory bodies, by our insurers or as part of an external peer review. Unless we are authorised by you to disclose information on your behalf this undertaking will apply during and after this engagement.
12.2. We may, on occasions, subcontract work on your affairs to other tax or surveying professionals. The subcontractors will be bound by our client confidentiality terms. MJS Tax Advisory Limited will be responsible for all work provided under this engagement.
13. Conflicts of Interest
13.1. We will inform you if we become aware of any conflict of interest in our relationship with you or in our relationship with you and another client. Where conflicts are identified which cannot be managed in a way that protects your interests then we regret that we will be unable to provide further services.
13.2. If there is a conflict of interest that is capable of being addressed successfully by the adoption of suitable safeguards to protect your interests then we will adopt those safeguards. Where possible this will be done on the basis of your informed consent. We reserve the right to act for other clients whose interests are not the same as or are adverse to yours subject of course to the obligations of confidentiality referred to above.
14. Intellectual Property Rights
14.1. We will retain all copyright in any document prepared by us during the course of carrying out the engagement save where the law specifically provides otherwise.
15. Money Laundering Regulations 2007
15.1. In accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act and Money Laundering Regulations 2007 you agree to waive your right to confidentiality to the extent of any report made, document provided or information disclosed to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA). You also acknowledge that we are required to report directly to SOCA without prior reference to you or your representatives if during the course of undertaking any assignment the person undertaking the role of Money Laundering Reporting Officer becomes suspicious of money laundering. As with other professional services firms, we are required to identify our clients for the purposes of the UK anti-money laundering legislation. We may request from you, and retain, such information and documentation as we require for these purposes and/or make searches of appropriate databases. Copies of such records will be maintained by us for a period of at least five years after we cease to act for the business.
16. Third Party
16.1. Any advice we give you will be supplied on the basis that it is for your benefit only and shall not be disclosed to any third party in whole or part without our prior written consent. It may not be used or relied upon for any other purpose or by any other person other than you without our prior written consent. If our advice is disclosed to any third party (with or without our consent), then we accept no responsibility or liability to that third party for any consequences that may arise to them, should they rely on the advice. If it is proposed that any documents or statement which refer to our name, are to be circulated to third parties, please consult us before they are issued.
17. De Minimis Claims
17.1. Termination Right: MJS Tax Advisory Limited ("Service Provider") reserves the right to terminate this engagement if it becomes apparent, in Service Provider's sole discretion, that there are insufficient chattels included within the purchase of the property to warrant the preparation and submission of a refund application for Stamp Duty. Termination may occur either following a desktop review of the sales particulars or other relevant information, or following the physical inspection of the property. Service Provider shall provide written notice of termination to the Client.
17.2. Termination Notice: Service Provider shall provide written notice of termination to the Client, clearly stating the reasons for termination and the effective date of termination. No fees, charges, expenses, or disbursements will be charged to the Client in the event of termination under this clause.
17.3. Obligations Upon Termination: Upon termination, Service Provider shall have no further obligations or responsibilities to the Client regarding the Engagement. Client agrees to cooperate with Service Provider in the orderly conclusion of the Engagement as reasonably directed by Service Provider.
17.4. Additional Work: Any additional work or services required by the Client after the termination of this Engagement shall be subject to a separate agreement between the parties.
17.5. Exclusive Termination Right: This Termination Due to Insufficient Chattels Clause shall be an exclusive right of termination for Service Provider and shall not limit or affect any other rights or remedies available to either party under this Agreement.
18. Data Protection & GDPR
Requirements of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR):
18.1. The DPA 2018 and GDPR set out a number of requirements in relation to the processing of personal data.
18.2. MJS Tax Advisory Limited takes your privacy and the privacy of the information we process seriously. We will only use your personal information and the personal information you give us access to under this contract to provide the services you have requested from us.
18.3. Our privacy policy sets out our approach to handling your information. In providing the requested documents you will be indicating that you have agreed to the terms under which we operate as set out in our Privacy Policy, which can be found here: https://mjs.tax/privacy-policy/
18.4. Appointment of an alternate: Please note that we have arrangements in place for an alternate to deal with matters in the event of permanent incapacity or illness. This provides protection to you in the event that we cannot act on your behalf, and by providing the requested documents you agree to the alternate having access to limited information in order to make initial contact with you and your advisors and agree the work to be undertaken during any incapacity. You can choose to appoint another specialist at that stage if you wish.
18.5. Secure communications and transfer of data: We will communicate or transfer data using the following methods: Telephone, including voicenotes ; Hard-copy documents, via post or courier; Electronic communications, including emails, SMS, WhatsApp, online portal and other online communications. If you accept us corresponding with you by email that is not encrypted or password protected, you also accept the risks associated with this form of communication.
18.6. Ongoing contact: We may contact you in future with details of your tax position and technical updates. If you consent to us contacting you for this purpose your signature on the acceptance statement acknowledges this consent.