Deadline for the SDLT return and payment after completion (FA 2003, ss.76 and 86)

Section 76(1) of the Finance Act 2003 requires the purchaser in every notifiable transaction to deliver a land transaction return to HMRC before the end of the period of 14 days after the effective date of the transaction. Section 86(1) requires the tax to be paid not later than the filing date for that return, so payment is also due within the 14 days. For an ordinary sale where the buyer does not take possession early, the effective date is completion, not exchange. Rhys completed on 3 July 2026, so the return must be filed and the tax paid within 14 days after that date. In practice the buyer's solicitor files the return online and pays from funds held before completion. The SDLT5 certificate HMRC then issues is needed to register the transfer at HM Land Registry.

Why A is wrong: The duty to file and pay falls on the purchaser, and the period is 14 days, not 30.

Why B is wrong: Time runs from the effective date, normally completion; exchange is not the effective date unless the contract is substantially performed earlier.

Why D is wrong: Section 86(1) requires payment by the filing date of the return, not at the time of the Land Registry application.

Why E is wrong: Thirty days was the former SDLT period (and is the Welsh LTT period); SDLT now requires filing and payment within 14 days.