How to Pay Stamp Duty

Here's exactly who sends the money to HMRC, how it gets there, and what to do if the person handling it isn't moving fast enough.

Deadline to file and pay

14 days after completion

Typical SDLT5 turnaround

Around 15 working days

Share paid via a solicitor

Around 98% of buyers

First late-filing penalty

£100 (up to 3 months late)

Who actually pays stamp duty?

In the vast majority of purchases, you never touch the payment yourself. Your solicitor or licensed conveyancer works out how much SDLT you owe, holds it back from your funds, and pays HMRC directly as part of filing your return¹. Around 98% of buyers go through this route rather than filing the SDLT1 form themselves. The other 2% tend to be experienced cash buyers doing their own conveyancing, or people buying through structures where a solicitor isn't already handling the transaction.

If you want to check how much you'll owe before your solicitor calculates it, our stamp duty rates guide walks through the current bands for movers, first-time buyers and second-home buyers.

What your solicitor needs from you

Filing the return correctly depends on information only you can give them. Before completion, expect your solicitor to ask for:

• Your full name, date of birth, and National Insurance number, since HMRC's SDLT1 form requires this for every buyer
• Confirmation of your buyer status: first-time buyer, home mover, or purchasing a second property or buy-to-let
• Details of any other residential property you own anywhere in the world, since this affects both first-time buyer relief and whether the second-home surcharge applies
• Confirmation that your funds, deposit plus stamp duty plus their fees, will be cleared in their client account ahead of completion

Get this to your solicitor early. A missing National Insurance number or a vague answer about property ownership is one of the most common reasons a return sits unfiled while everyone waits on you to reply to an email.

How your solicitor pays it, step by step

Your solicitor's role here isn't just paperwork; they're handling your money and your legal deadline at the same time. Regulated conveyancing firms hold client money in a separate client account, ring-fenced from the firm's own finances under Solicitors Regulation Authority or CLC rules. Around exchange and completion, they will typically:

1. Calculate the SDLT due based on your purchase price, buyer type, and location
2. Ask you for the SDLT amount in cleared funds, usually a few days before completion, on top of your deposit
3. Hold that money in their client account until completion actually happens
4. File the SDLT1 return online through HMRC's agent portal, either on completion day or shortly after
5. Transfer the tax electronically from the client account straight to HMRC
6. Send you the SDLT5 certificate once HMRC has processed the return, normally within 15 working days³

This is why solicitors are strict about receiving your money before completion: they can't pay stamp duty, the seller, or the Land Registry fee with money that isn't sitting in the account yet.

If your solicitor is slow to file

The 14-day deadline runs from completion, not from when your solicitor gets around to it, and any penalty for missing it falls on you as the taxpayer even though your solicitor did the filing. If weeks have passed since completion and you haven't received your SDLT5 certificate:

• Ask directly whether the SDLT1 return has been filed, and when
• Ask for the UTRN (unique transaction reference number), which confirms a return exists even before the certificate arrives
• If the firm is dragging its feet close to the 14-day mark, ask whether you should file and pay the return yourself using the figures they've already calculated, then recover the fee from them afterward

Most delays are administrative rather than dangerous, but you're the one who owes HMRC penalties and interest if the deadline slips, so it's reasonable to chase.

Filing your own SDLT return

If you're not using a solicitor, you can file the return yourself directly through HMRC's online SDLT service⁴. You'll need the full property address and title number, the purchase price and completion date, and details of every buyer involved, including National Insurance numbers. Payment can be made by bank transfer, debit card, or Faster Payments².

Once submitted, the portal issues a UTRN immediately, so you have confirmation before payment even lands. Your SDLT5 certificate follows on broadly the same timeline as a solicitor-filed return, once HMRC has processed both the return and the payment. None of this is especially difficult if you're organised, but the same 14-day deadline applies whether or not you use a solicitor, so build it into your moving timeline from day one.

Solicitor-handled vs self-filed at a glance

What is the SDLT5 certificate for?

The SDLT5 is HMRC's confirmation that your return has been filed and the tax paid, or that none was due. It matters because HM Land Registry will not register you as the legal owner without it³: your solicitor sends the SDLT5 to the Land Registry alongside your application to change the register and the transfer deed. Keep a copy with your property deeds and other purchase paperwork. You'll need the UTRN from it again if you ever claim a refund.

What happens if payment is late?

Missing the 14-day deadline triggers two things that run independently of each other. First, a fixed filing penalty: £100 if you file up to 3 months late, rising to £200 beyond that. If the return still hasn't been filed after 12 months, HMRC can add a tax-geared penalty on top, calculated as a percentage of the tax due and capable of reaching the full amount owed.

Second, interest accrues daily on any unpaid tax from the day after the 14-day deadline until you pay, at HMRC's official late-payment interest rate, currently the Bank of England base rate plus 4 percentage points, reviewed as the base rate moves. It's simple interest rather than compounding, but it keeps building for as long as the tax sits unpaid.

If a bill is left unpaid for long enough, HMRC treats it like any other overdue tax debt: reminder letters, then referral to standard debt-recovery action, and ultimately County Court proceedings if it's still unresolved. None of that happens quickly, but it isn't a bill worth ignoring. See our full breakdown on when stamp duty is due for the deadline mechanics in detail.

A worked example: the 14-day timeline

Say you complete on a Wednesday. That's day 0. Your solicitor will usually have already prepared your SDLT return in draft before completion, using the agreed purchase price, so there's no last-minute scramble. Within a day or two, they file the SDLT1 return online and pay HMRC from the client account funds they've been holding for you. Day 14 is the legal deadline, but in practice most solicitors file and pay well inside the first week, leaving a buffer in case HMRC queries anything. Around 15 working days after filing, your SDLT5 certificate arrives, and your solicitor forwards it to the Land Registry to complete your registration as owner. If you're self-filing, the same clock runs from your completion date, so mark day 14 in your calendar the moment you complete.

Last reviewed: 2026-07-03. Rates verified against gov.uk.