I recently bought a house in York and paid the 3% additional stamp duty land tax (SDLT). My first house has no mortgage. If I gift it to my daughter (under 18 years old) via a trust, can I get the 3% SDLT refunded? The answer might be ‘no’ if I am her trustee. However, if I put my dad (my daughter's grandparent) as a trustee, will the answer be different? 

Arthur Weller replies:  

What you are suggesting is a good idea. However, the legislation specifically targets this strategy and disallows it. See HMRC’s guidance in the Stamp Duty Land Tax manual at SDLTM09815 (tinyurl.com/2p8w8svj), which states: “Where a minor child would be treated as owning an interest in land because they are a beneficiary of a trust, the parents of that child (and, if the parents are not married to one another, the spouses or civil partners (if any) of those parents) are treated for the purposes of Condition C as owners of the interest [Para 12].”