- Stamp duty is payable on any transfer of shares that is not exempt and exceeds £1000 in value.
- The stamp duty is payable by the buyer or recipient of the shares
- Some transfers can be exempt from stamp duty, like:
- Shares that are gifted to you
- Shares transferred to you by your spouse when you marry or enter into a civil partnership
- Shares held in trust and transferred between trustees
- Transfers that a liquidator makes as settlement to shareholders when a business is wound up
- shares held as security for a loan that are transferred back to you when you repay the loan
- transfer to the beneficiaries of a trust when the trust is being wound up
- shares that someone leaves to you in their will
- shares transferred to you when you get divorced, or when your civil partnership is dissolved
- certain types of loan capital
- Further reliefs apply, for instance, when shares are transferred between commonly owned companies in a group.
- The Stamp duty charge is 0.5% of the value of the transaction, rounded up to the nearest £5. So, for example, a valuation of £3100 would attract stamp duty of £20. Where 0.5% of £3100 is £15.50, which rounds up to £20.
- Stamp duty is due no later than 30 days after the transaction date.
- There are two forms for registering a transfer of shares:
- J30 for a transfer of fully paid shares
- J10 for a transfer of partly paid or unpaid shares. For more information, see Shares and the statement of capital
- Both forms contain two certificates on the reverse side. At least one of these certificates has to be completed to confirm that no stamp duty is payable.
- Certificate 1- states that the transfer is for less than £1000. It also confirms that the transfer is not part of a series of transactions that are collectively valued over £1000.
- Certificate 2- states that the transfer is exempt.
- A company cannot register a transfer unless:
- the transfer certificate has been stamped by the Stamp Duty Office, or
- Certificates 1 or 2 have been completed.
- A transfer of shares is only effective after the Company has entered the transaction in the Statutory records
Caution: If you are not sure about the valuation of shares or whether exemptions apply, contact a professional adviser. You can also call the stamp duty help line on 0300 200 3510.
The address of the stamp duty office is:
Stamp Duty
Birmingham Stamp Office
9th Floor, City Centre House
30 Union Street
Birmingham
B2 4AR