# SDLT return filed late: the £100 and £200 penalties, interest and the 14-day count worked on one purchase

> A late SDLT return costs £100, then £200 after three months, plus interest on unpaid tax. One £350,000 purchase worked with real dates and figures.

- Page to cite: https://aeolookup.com/solicitors/sdlt-return-late-penalty-interest-14-day-deadline-worked/
- Publisher: AEO Lookup (https://aeolookup.com/)
- Section: Solicitors, Conveyancing, updates and chasing
- Published 5 October 2026
- Key fact: For a £350,000 purchase at standard rates completing on Monday 5 October 2026, the SDLT is £7,500 and the return and payment are due by Monday 19 October 2026. Filed and paid on 2 November 2026, the client owes a £100 penalty plus about £22.29 interest at 7.75%; filed and paid on 20 January 2027, more than three months late, it is a £200 penalty plus about £146.51 interest. Our arithmetic from the published rates.
- Sources: Finance Act 2003, section 76(1) and Schedule 10 paragraphs 3 to 5, on legislation.gov.uk; GOV.UK "Penalties and interest on a late Stamp Duty Land Tax return" (published 26 June 2026); GOV.UK "Stamp Duty Land Tax: appeal against a late filing penalty" (updated 16 February 2018); GOV.UK "Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates"; GOV.UK "Rates and allowances: HMRC interest rates for late and early payments" (updated 23 December 2025); all read on 2026-10-05. The purchase is an invented example and the penalty and interest figures are our count.

A Stamp Duty Land Tax return must reach HMRC, and the tax be paid, within 14 days after the effective date of the purchase, which on most residential files is completion. Miss it and the purchaser owes a fixed £100 penalty, rising to £200 once the return is more than three months late, plus interest on any tax paid late. Schedule 10 sets the fixed penalty with no reference to the tax due, so it applies to a late return even where no tax is payable.

The penalty falls on the purchaser, but the return is almost always the firm's job. This page works one file through the dates and the money.

## What the law says

Section 76(1) of the Finance Act 2003 says the purchaser must deliver a land transaction return "before the end of the period of 14 days after the effective date". Schedule 10 sets the penalties for a return that does not arrive:

- **Paragraph 3:** £100 if the return is delivered within three months after the filing date, and £200 in any other case.
- **Paragraph 4:** where the return is not delivered within 12 months after the filing date, a further penalty of up to the amount of tax chargeable on the transaction.
- **Paragraph 5:** where the failure continues, the tribunal may direct a daily penalty of up to £60 for each day.

GOV.UK's guidance, published on 26 June 2026, says interest runs on late tax "from the day after you should have paid it until the day you pay it", at a rate set by HM Treasury. The flat penalty is about the return; the interest is about the tax. A file can pick up one, the other or both.

This page covers England and Northern Ireland. For land in Wales the tax is Land Transaction Tax, with a 30-day window; the [residential purchase checklist](https://aeolookup.com/solicitors/residential-purchase-checklist-instruction-to-land-registry-registration/) has both.

## One purchase, worked

An invented file: a client buying their only home for £350,000, not a first-time buyer, completing on Monday 5 October 2026.

**The tax.** At the standard residential rates on GOV.UK:

| Band | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| First £125,000 | 0% | £0 |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | 2% | £2,500 |
| £250,001 to £350,000 | 5% | £5,000 |
| Total | | £7,500 |

**The dates.** Counted from completion on 5 October 2026:

| Point | Date |
|---|---|
| Effective date (completion) | Monday 5 October 2026 |
| Last day to file and pay | Monday 19 October 2026 |
| Three months after the filing date: penalty rises to £200 after this | 19 January 2027 |
| Twelve months after the filing date: tax-related penalty possible after this | 19 October 2027 |

**Late by two weeks.** The return is filed and the £7,500 paid on Monday 2 November 2026. The penalty is £100. Interest at 7.75%, the late payment rate HMRC's interest page lists from 9 January 2026, for 14 days: £7,500 × 7.75% × 14 ÷ 365 = about £22.29. Total cost about £122.29.

**Late by just over three months.** Filed and paid on 20 January 2027. The penalty is £200. Interest for 92 days: £7,500 × 7.75% × 92 ÷ 365 = about £146.51. Total cost about £346.51.

The figures are our arithmetic. HMRC calculates the interest itself and its day count may differ by a day. The rate is base rate plus 4% and moves when base rate moves, so check HMRC's interest page on the day; the 7.75% is what the page showed when we read it.

## Appealing the penalty

GOV.UK's appeal page says to send the appeal within 30 days of the date of the penalty notice, by letter or on form SDLT46. HMRC accepts a reasonable excuse only where the purchaser or their agent took all reasonable steps to file on time. Its own examples:

| Likely accepted | Likely refused |
|---|---|
| The return was posted in good time but lost or delayed in the post | The return was too difficult to fill in |
| The adviser was seriously ill | Pressure of work |
| The adviser died | Waiting for a valuation |
| | Delay caused by the seller |
| | Being abroad without a power of attorney in place |

"Pressure of work" is the one that matters to a busy conveyancing team. A missed SDLT return because the fee earner was swamped is not an excuse HMRC expects to accept, and the client will reasonably ask the firm to pay. That is a complaint and possibly a [Legal Ombudsman referral](https://aeolookup.com/solicitors/which-legal-ombudsman-time-limit-applies-to-this-complaint-law-firm/) over a sum that is small next to the time it costs to handle.

## Why it also holds up registration

HM Land Registry needs the SDLT certificate, or an explanation of why none is needed, with the application to register. Missing it is one of the common requisitions in the [Land Registry requisition guide](https://aeolookup.com/solicitors/land-registry-requisition-time-to-reply-extension-cancellation/). A late return can therefore cost the client a penalty and delay the registration of their title and the lender's charge.

## Habits that stop it happening

1. Take the tax before completion. Put the SDLT on the completion statement and hold the funds in client account before the day. A return filed on time with the money still to come from the client is still late payment.
2. Prepare the return before completion. Every answer except the effective date is known in advance. Get the client to approve the answers when they sign the transfer.
3. File on the day of completion. File it, pay it and put the certificate on the file that afternoon, not in the second week.
4. Diarise day 10 as a check. One list of every completion with its day 14 date, reviewed alongside the chase list in the [fixed-day chasing workflow](https://aeolookup.com/solicitors/conveyancing-chasing-time-how-small-firms-cut-it/).
5. Cover holidays. If the fee earner is away for the fortnight after completion, name who files. HMRC's list of refused excuses includes pressure of work, and an absent colleague looks much the same from the outside.
6. Check the effective date. The 14 days run from the effective date, which is usually but not always completion. Ask the supervising solicitor on any file where the buyer has early access or pays before completion.

## Where Overlyft ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/ours-badge.png) fits

Overlyft can set up an AI assistant to draft the return answers from the file at exchange, add the day 14 date to the completion list and flag any file without a submission receipt by day 10. The fee earner checks and submits the return, and a supervising solicitor remains responsible for the file. This page is general information, not tax or legal advice.

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General information for UK small firms, not legal, tax or financial advice.