Stamp duty clawback?

[Trinacheile]

Hi all,

First time I've posted here so I appreciate your advice.
I've looked at the other posts about stamp duty clawback but I'm still not clear on my own position from the revenue's perspective.
I bought an apartment in 1998 and have lived there ever since, all fully paid up in tax terms, nothing outstanding, never rented it out to anyone.
In 2005 I bought a v cheap derelict house on the other side of the country which was exempt from stamp duty. I did it up in 2007 and my husband and I use it for weekends etc.
But our jobs are in the town my apt is in and we live there mon to fri.
I think when we went for joint assessment after marriage in 2007 we put the weekend place as our PPR as a couple, as the revenue letters have come there. We intend to live there full-time in the future, and it's kind of our marital home.
How can I explain this to them? I already sent a letter with the dates and details of each purchase and how they have been used but they sent me back another one asking about the apartment and exactly what it's been used for. They seem to think we've been absent from it or renting it out or something.
I just don't know what to say to the revenue except repeat what I already said.
Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[elcato]

Revenue are simply asking are you renting out the apartment. If the answer is no then that's fine but they may decide to audit you to make sure you are not getting any income from it. On the other hand, if they ask you what your PPR is you will have to tell them it is your apartment as well as far as I can see. That is where you spend most of your time. They may decide then that you have a holiday home elsewhere (which I think they are correct in saying) and they will be looking for any due tax on that. (There may be none - I dont know if HH are liable for some kind of property tax/SD clawback). I would advise you to talk to a professional on this and get full clarification.

 

[csirl]

Your PPR is where you live most of the time. From your post, it appears that your apartment is your current PPR and has been all the time you've lived there. Your house is not and cannot be regarded as your PPR - any future plans are irrelevent at this stage from a taxation perspective.

You appear to have confused Revenue, so they've started asking questions. They are aware that you own two properties. As you've incorrectly told them that your house is your PPR, the are asking questions about your apartment. It is possible that they are aware that your apartment is your PPR, but are waiting to see what answer you give as they suspect that you have declared the wrong PPR. Declaring an incorrect PPR will always make Revenue suspicious as generally people who do it are trying to evade tax (in your case it appears to be a simple error or misunderstanding of the rules).

Best thing to do is contact them and clarify the position in clear and easy language i.e. that you incorrectly nominated your house as the PPR and that your apartment is your PPR.

 

[Trinacheile]

Thanks for the replies guys.
I think I must have declared an incorrect PPR. I thought PPR meant your "home", but I suppose it doesn't necessarily mean that at all. Well, I'll write to them and explain it, and hopefully that will be the end of it. I wish the revenue made things like this clearer on their website.