The appellant, Gary Withers, appealed against a closure noticed issued by HMRC, which increased the SDLT due from £114,500 to £212,500.

The notice was issued to Withers over an enquiry into his SDLT return for the acquisition on 31 July 2019 of a house and land located at the property known as Lake Farm, in Kent.

The case concerned whether a home with adjoining grazing and woodland could attract commercial rates of SDLT tax instead of residential rates.

HMRC allowed the appellant’s claim for multiple dwellings relief (MDR) but concluded that the acquisition was of ‘wholly residential property’ and calculated the increased amount of SDLT under s55 of the Finance Act 2003 (FA 2003).

FA 2003 establishes that SDLT tax is chargeable when the relevant land ‘consists entirely’ of residential property.

I