Appendix
S.I. 2004/3208: memorandum from HM Treasury
Stamp Duty Land Tax (Land Transaction Returns) Regulations
2004 (S.I. 2004/3208)
1. In
a letter dated 11th January 2005 from the Clerk of the Select
Committee a memorandum is requested on the following point.
The Explanatory Memorandum explains
why it was considered desirable for regulation 3 to come into
force as soon as possible. Explain why the Regulations could not
have been made sooner and why regulation 4 could not have been
brought into force at least 21 days after the instrument was laid.
2. The
delay in making the Regulations is regretted but was unavoidable
due to the interface between regulation 3 and the information
technology which it enables.
3. Regulation
3 effectively enables barcode representation of entries on a Land
Transaction Return for Stamp Duty Land Tax ('SDLT'). The new barcoded
return is an important step towards full electronic filing. For
compliance and technical reasons, the barcoded return cannot be
signed before a land transaction is completed.
4. Following
consultation with the legal profession, the new paragraph 1A in
Part 1 of Schedule 10 to the Finance Act 2003, which was inserted
by regulation 3(b) was drafted to enable practitioners to sign
on their clients' behalf, to avoid unacceptable delays in the
conveyancing process.
5. The
wording of the declaration contained in the new paragraph 1A mirrors
that on the new return form itself, so could not be finalised
until the details of the return had been confirmed. Further consultation
took place with the legal profession on the exact wording of the
return declaration, and both compliance and technical consequences
needed to be considered. Unfortunately all these delayed the finalising
of the return, and hence of the supporting regulation.
6. Regulation
4 forms part of the minor amendments to the provisions governing
returns and enquiries into returns. Although separate from the
other amendments to Schedule 10 to Finance Act 2003, and not bound
by the same time constraints, these amendments were included within
the same set of Regulations for completeness.
7. The
Department accepts, with the benefit of hindsight that whilst
there was justification for bringing regulation 3 into force as
quickly as possible, the same considerations did not apply to
regulation 4.
17th January 2005
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