The information on this page is adopted from the United Kingdom Stamp Duty Land Tax Manual
(© Crown Copyright acknowledged)
For an item to be regarded as part of the land and therefore chargeable to Stamp Duty, as opposed to a chattel which is not, it must be annexed to the property.
The issue will then turn on the degree and purpose of the annexation, with emphasis being placed in many cases to use and/or purpose of the item.
Where a purchaser agrees to buy a property for a price that includes an amount properly attributed to chattels, that amount will not be charged Stamp Duty.
A just and reasonable apportionment is required where a price is paid partly for a land transaction and partly for a non-land transaction such as the purchase of chattels. It does not matter that the parties to a transaction may agree a particular apportionment which is then documented in the contract. The apportionment will not be correct unless it was arrived at on a just and reasonable basis. Just and Reasonable should be considered the price that each chattel might be sold for in the market, taking into account its current condition and age.
The Valuation & Estates Office has the right to make enquiries under section 6 of the Stamp Duty Law (2013 Revision) (PDF, 97 Kb, 28 pages) to request information or records that are necessary or desirable for the purpose of assessing Duty. This includes the request of invoices for the purchase of items, notably those that are newly purchased. It is therefore quite possible that we will undertake enquiries into cases where a deduction has been made for chattels to confirm that those items properly fall within the definition of chattels.
We are unable to provide a comprehensive list of items that are accepted as chattels. This is because each case must be considered on its own merits and because this is an area of the law that continues to evolve.
The following items are assets that will normally be regarded as chattels;
- carpets
- curtains and blinds
- free standing furniture
- kitchen white goods
- electric and gas fires (provided that they can be removed by disconnection from the power supply without causing damage to the property)
- light shades and fittings (unless recessed)
- Satellite Dish
- Potted Plants
On the other hand, the following items will not normally be regarded as chattels;
- fitted kitchen units, cupboards, sinks and worktops
- wall mounted or cabineted fitted applicances (oven, fridge etc)
- floor and wall tiles
- fitted bathroom sanitary ware
- hot water heaters
- air conditioning systems
- intruder alarm systems
- Ceiling Fans
- Externally, any plants, shrubs or trees growing in the soil which forms part of the land
- Hurricane Shutters will not normally be considered as a chattel
Chattels on Agreements for Sale
A deduction for chattels can only be made if the chattels are referred to within the Agreement, or within any attached schedules. The subsequent Transfer for Land must make reference to the deduction and a chattels list must be enclosed for a second time.