Judy001

We are hoping to buy a property at home in the UK. We still have not sold our property in the US. We have heard/read that we can transfer/sell our US house to an llc (that we set up) for a nominal amount thereby not having to pay the additional stamp duty on our new property at home. Not sure how this would work if/when we can actually sell the US house. Do we transfer/sell it back to ourselves first?

Does anyone know or heard of anyone doing this?

Thank you

Novocastrian

Welcome to the forum. I've not heard of the procedure you describe, but I'm no expert.

Is there a strong motive to avoid the usual route of selling the US house before buying one in NI?

Garbatellamike

If you own a 2nd residential property anywhere in the world you are liable to pay stamp duty premium when purchasing in UK. However, if you sell the US house within 3 years you can then apply to the tax man for a refund on the premium.

Novocastrian

Yes, I know that. But why not sell the other place first?

There maybe a perfectly reasonable explanation in the OP's case... I was only asking what it might be.

Garbatellamike

I was aiming that to OP not you and agree that's a good question.

Novocastrian

Ah, OK.

Judy001

We've tried to sell our US house but having trouble getting a buyer due to the house being located close to a busy road (wasn't a busy road when we bought!). There's also the doubt that we might not even sell within the 3 years hence the enquiry of the LLC option. Obviously we want to avoid the additional stamp duty but only by doing so legally.

Garbatellamike

Ah ok in which case I think you'll need an expert tax lawyer to confirm whether an llc is tax avoidance or tax evasion, the former being legal.

Novocastrian

Then reduce the asking price. A house is worth what someone will pay for it. Unless you're looking to spend millions (unlikely in NI) the stamp duty premium is paltry compared to the transaction costs of creating an LLC and paying the lawyers.

Vadio

I totally agree with Novocastrian.

We started trying to sell our house in the US in early 2009, and got a lot of showings, but no offers. Finally in late 2010 we interviewed 3 agents - each one said the same - it's priced too high, the market still hasn't recovered, prices in your area are going down, and if you want to sell, you have to be aggressive with the price. We took that advice seriously, chose the most aggressive agent, and sold within a few weeks.

There's a buyer for every house. No one wants to give their house away, but realistically, you won't sell if the price isn't right, and that takes the busy road into consideration.

ChrisK

We're currently trying to move house in the UK: we have a US house (wife and me) and UK house (for when we're in the UK and our daughters). Our solicitors have enquired with HMRC as to our position, to which we have received a letter that is totally non-committal (!). The whole additional Stamp Duty is a fiasco, ill thought through, yet alone to implement!

industrystandard