In the case of BTR Core Fund JPUT v The Commissioners for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs [2026] the taxpayer has recovered £3,064,633 in overpaid Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).
On 15 April 2019 BTR acquired the leasehold estate of a property in Manchester consisting of 350 dwellings and unlet commercial premises (the Property). The purchase price apportioned to the dwellings was £98,172,807 and the price apportioned to the commercial premises was £541,141. BTR submitted an SDLT return to HMRC in April/May 2019 and claimed multiple dwellings relief (MDR) in respect of the purchase. The SDLT paid was £4,335,760 and the calculation of this liability was based on HMRC guidance at the time.
In November 2020 HMRC changed its published guidance on how to calculate SDLT in MDR matters where the relevant property consisted of both residential and commercial elements. As a result, BTR wrote to HMRC in January 2021 to claim overpayment relief in respect of the SDLT paid by it on the purchase of the Property in the amount of £3,064,633. The claim was made on the basis that there had been an error in its previous SDLT calculation.
BTR was too late to amend its original SDLT return and claim a repayment as a result of doing so. Instead, it sought a refund under paragraph 34 of Schedule 10 to Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003), which allowed for such a claim to be made up to four years after the Property had been purchased.
HMRC refused the claim on the basis that it was not liable to give effect to it (by reason of Case A in paragraph 34A FA 2003) where it arose by reason of 'a mistake in a claim or election'. BTR appealed to the First-tier Tribunal (FTT). Its case was that the relevant mistake was not in the making of a claim, but in the calculation of the SDLT payable. The FTT agreed with HMRC and BTR appealed.
The Upper Tribunal (UT) has now overturned the FTT ruling and allowed BTR's appeal. The UT considered that there was no mistake in the making of the MDR claim, which the SDLT return submitted by BTR had claimed correctly. Instead, the mistake which BTR made arose by reason of it making the wrong choice of rate on which to base its SDLT calculation. This meant that the mistake did not arise by reason of 'a mistake in a claim' and consequently, paragraph 34A did not apply.
This is a big win for BTR.
MDR was abolished in 2024 but claims for relief for overpaid SDLT in non-MDR matters will continue to be made under paragraph 34. This case provides useful binding precedent on the courts' thinking on paragraph 34A.
If you have any SDLT queries and would like advice, please contact our tax specialists.
