HMRC Non-Statutory Clearance Process for Tax Law Interpretation and Guidance

HMRC non-statutory clearances for SDLT section 75A

HMRC may give a non-statutory clearance on specific technical questions about SDLT section 75A, which is an anti-avoidance rule. This is a written statement of HMRC’s view on how the law applies to particular facts, but it is not a general approval process and is not available where HMRC sees the arrangement as tax avoidance or where the question is simply whether section 75A applies.

• A clearance may be requested only after checking the legislation and HMRC guidance, and where there is still genuine uncertainty about HMRC’s interpretation.
• HMRC is more likely to consider focused questions, such as whether a step is a scheme transaction, who V or P is, or what the chargeable consideration is for the notional transaction.
• HMRC says it will not give clearance if the transactions are undertaken for the purpose of avoiding tax.
• HMRC will also not answer broad requests asking whether section 75A does or does not apply to the overall arrangement.
• A refusal to give clearance does not by itself mean section 75A applies; the legal analysis under the legislation still needs to be done properly.

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HMRC non-statutory clearances for SDLT section 75A issues

This page explains when HMRC may give a non-statutory clearance on Stamp Duty Land Tax issues involving section 75A. In simple terms, this is a written statement of HMRC’s view on how the law applies to a specific set of facts. It can be useful where a transaction is complex and the parties are unsure how HMRC interprets the legislation, but it is not available in every case.

What this rule is about

The source material deals with HMRC’s non-statutory clearance process in relation to section 75A. Section 75A is an anti-avoidance provision in the SDLT rules. It can apply where a series of transactions is used and the tax result does not reflect the overall transfer of value or land.

Because section 75A is technical and fact-sensitive, parties sometimes want HMRC’s view before or after entering into a transaction. HMRC’s non-statutory clearance process is one route for doing that. It is not part of the legislation itself. It is an administrative procedure under which HMRC may give written confirmation of its view.

What the official source says

HMRC says a non-statutory clearance is written confirmation of its view of how tax law applies to a specific transaction or event, and that a customer can usually rely on it in most circumstances.

HMRC says a customer may ask for a clearance if all of the following are true:

• they have fully read the relevant guidance
• they have not been able to find the information they need
• they remain uncertain about HMRC’s interpretation of the legislation

For section 75A issues, HMRC says applications should be sent to its non-statutory clearance team and must follow the published guidance for that service.

The source also makes two important limits clear:

• HMRC will not provide a clearance where, in its view, the transactions are undertaken for the purpose of avoiding tax
• HMRC will not provide a clearance if the application simply asks whether section 75A applies or does not apply

HMRC gives examples of the kinds of questions it will usually consider, subject to those limits. These include:

• whether a particular transaction is a scheme transaction
• who V and/or P are for a notional land transaction
• what the chargeable consideration is for a notional transaction

What this means in practice

The practical point is that HMRC may help with specific technical elements of a section 75A analysis, but it is not offering a general approval process for SDLT planning.

That distinction matters. A request framed as “does section 75A apply to our arrangement?” is the type of question HMRC says it will not answer through this route. But a narrower question about how a defined part of the section 75A machinery works on stated facts may be considered.

So the clearance process is more likely to be useful where the parties understand the structure of section 75A and need HMRC’s view on one or more building blocks within it. For example, the parties may want HMRC’s view on whether a step in the sequence is a scheme transaction, or on how to identify the relevant persons in the notional transaction.

The source also shows that HMRC is drawing a clear line around tax avoidance. If HMRC considers the transactions are undertaken for the purpose of avoiding tax, it says it will not provide a clearance. That does not itself determine the legal outcome under the legislation, but it does determine whether this administrative service is available.

How to analyse it

If you are considering a non-statutory clearance request on section 75A, the sensible questions are:

• Have you already checked the legislation and HMRC’s published guidance?
• Is the uncertainty really about HMRC’s interpretation of the law, rather than a lack of factual information?
• Can the question be framed as a specific technical issue, rather than a broad request for HMRC to bless the overall arrangement?
• Are you asking about one of the matters HMRC says it will usually consider, such as scheme transactions, the identity of V or P, or chargeable consideration for the notional transaction?
• Could HMRC view the arrangement as being undertaken for the purpose of avoiding tax?
• Does the application comply with HMRC’s published non-statutory clearance guidance?

It is also important to separate three different things:

• the legal test in section 75A
• HMRC’s interpretation of that test
• HMRC’s willingness to answer a particular question under its clearance procedure

Those are not the same. A refusal to give clearance does not necessarily mean section 75A applies. Equally, a clearance request is not a substitute for working through the legislation properly.

Example

Suppose a land transaction is carried out through several linked steps. The parties think section 75A might need to be considered, but the main uncertainty is not the whole section. Instead, they are unsure whether one particular step counts as a scheme transaction for section 75A purposes, and that answer may affect the later analysis.

On the source material, that is the sort of focused question HMRC may be willing to consider under the non-statutory clearance process, assuming the published conditions are met and HMRC does not view the arrangement as undertaken for tax avoidance.

By contrast, if the application simply says “please confirm that section 75A does not apply to our transaction,” the source indicates HMRC will not provide a clearance on that basis.

Why this can be difficult in practice

Section 75A is often difficult because the answer depends on how a sequence of transactions is characterised. Small factual differences can matter. The source material also shows that HMRC’s clearance service is limited in scope. That creates a practical problem: the parties may want certainty on the overall SDLT outcome, but HMRC may only be prepared to address narrower technical points.

Another difficulty is the tax avoidance boundary. HMRC says it will not provide clearance where, in its view, the transactions are undertaken for the purpose of avoiding tax. That assessment may itself be contentious in some cases, especially where a structure has commercial features but also produces a tax advantage.

There is also an important procedural point. A non-statutory clearance is HMRC’s view under an administrative process. It is not the same thing as legislation or a court decision. Its value lies in understanding HMRC’s position on a specific set of facts, but it does not replace the underlying legal analysis.

Key takeaways

• HMRC may give non-statutory clearance on specific section 75A issues, but not as a general approval of an arrangement.
• Requests are more likely to be considered if they focus on a defined technical question, such as a scheme transaction, the identity of V or P, or chargeable consideration.
• HMRC says it will not give clearance where it considers the transactions are undertaken for tax avoidance, or where the request only asks whether section 75A applies.

This page was last updated on 24 March 2026

Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: HMRC Non-Statutory Clearance Process for Tax Law Interpretation and Guidance

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