No evidence of commercial use

In August 2013 the taxpayers bought a property consisting of five Land Registry titles in a single transaction. They submitted a stamp duty land tax return and paid the duty on the basis that it was a residential property. In June 2017 they claimed a refund on the grounds that the acquisition should have notified as mixed use. After an enquiry HMRC decided the property was entirely residential and refused the claim. The taxpayers appealed.

The dispute concerned the nature of the fields surrounding the hall. The taxpayers said they did not form part of the grounds of the residential property.

The First-tier Tribunal noted that there was no ‘direct witness evidence’ as the use of the land at the time of the transaction. The taxpayers said the ‘inherent quality’ of the fields was agricultural and the ‘concept of grounds’ should not extend to areas used...