Review of the First-tier Tribunal decision in Averdieck

The purchase of a farm has many potential reliefs from rollover relief for capital gains tax to possible inheritance tax relief on death or gifting. The stamp duty land tax benefit of mixed usage has been in the spotlight particularly for uncommercial smallholdings.

The First-tier Tribunal decision in J and C Averdieck (TC8623) dealt with a claim which attempted to widen the availability of the relief attracting the attention of the national newspapers. In short the founder of Gu chocolate desserts has been ordered to pay a bill of about £120 000 after losing an SDLT case over the acquisition of his £3m country home.

Reclaim of SDLT paid

James Averdieck and his wife bought the 14-acre home in August 2020 initially paying £258 630 stamp duty land tax. However they used a specialist SDLT ‘refund company’ to request HMRC return...