Who can deal with stamp duty when the buyer cannot act?
In short
Another person can sometimes deal with SDLT for a buyer, but the reason they are acting matters. The law covers estates, receivers, powers of attorney and the Official Solicitor in different ways.
- Check the person’s formal authority
- Separate signing a return from wider SDLT duties
- Do not rely on the HMRC manual alone for incapacity or minor cases
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Who can deal with stamp duty when the buyer cannot act?
If a buyer has died, cannot deal with their affairs, or has given someone a power of attorney, stamp duty paperwork can become confusing fast. The key point is this: another person may be able, or required, to deal with SDLT, but their role and authority matter.
What this rule is about
Stamp Duty Land Tax, usually called stamp duty or SDLT, comes with duties such as dealing with a land transaction return. A return includes a declaration that its information is correct and complete.
Sometimes the person buying the property cannot deal with those duties. They may have died. They may need someone else to act. Or property may be under the control of a formally appointed receiver.
The law has rules for some of these situations. HMRC’s manual also discusses others. Those are not quite the same thing.
What the official source says
HMRC’s manual says that people acting for another person can carry out SDLT functions, including dealing with returns and correspondence. It discusses several types of representative.
- Someone managing an incapacitated person’s property is described as responsible for that person’s SDLT duties.
- For SDLT duties that a minor does not deal with, the manual describes a parent or guardian as responsible.
- Those handling a deceased buyer’s estate must deal with that buyer’s SDLT duties.
- A receiver with formal control of property must deal with SDLT duties for a transaction affecting it.
- A person with a written, signed power of attorney can make the return declaration for an individual.
Under the supplied current version of Finance Act 2003 section 106, the rules for estates and receivers still remain. They are still there. It also shows that the earlier subsections, apparently discussed by the manual in relation to incapacitated people and minors, have been omitted from the section. That matters.
That distinction matters. HMRC’s manual is its guidance, not the law. You should not assume that its statements about a guardian or a person managing an incapacitated person’s property state the current legal rule.
What this means in practice
First work out why somebody else is acting. A family member helping with forms is not automatically authorised to make the required declaration. The paperwork behind their authority may decide the answer.
For an estate, the law puts the SDLT duties on the people handling the deceased buyer’s affairs. It also allows them to take SDLT paid from the deceased person’s assets.
- Check whether the buyer completed the purchase before they died.
- Identify who is formally dealing with the estate.
- Keep the document that proves that person’s authority.
- Where a receiver is involved, check which property they control.
- For a power of attorney, check that it is in writing and signed by the individual.
- Make sure the person signing understands the information in the return.
A power of attorney is not a shortcut around the declaration. Instead, section 81B provides the route by which another person may make that declaration for an individual, provided the power-of-attorney conditions are met. It is specific.
How to analyse it
Start with the facts, not the label someone uses. Ask: who is the buyer, what has happened, and what document gives another person power to act?
- Is the buyer alive and able to make the declaration themselves?
- If not, is someone handling the buyer’s estate?
- Is there a written power of attorney signed by the buyer?
- Is an Official Solicitor acting for a person under a disability?
- Is there a receiver formally controlling the property involved?
- Does the issue concern signing the return, paying SDLT, or answering HMRC?
Then match the answer to the right rule. Section 81B concerns the declaration on a return. Section 106 deals with responsibility in the surviving estate and receiver cases. They do different jobs.
Example
Amir agrees to buy a flat but dies before the SDLT work is finished. The people handling his estate take over the SDLT duties linked to that purchase. If they pay SDLT, section 106 allows them to take that payment from Amir’s estate assets.
Now change one fact. Amir is alive but has signed a written power of attorney for Priya. Provided that the statutory power-of-attorney conditions are met, Priya may make the required declaration on Amir’s SDLT return for him. These are different routes.
One arises because the buyer has died. The other depends on a signed written authority.
Why this can be difficult in practice
This is the part people get wrong: being close to the buyer is not the same as having legal authority to act. Knowing all the facts does not, by itself, establish that a relative, carer or friend has authority to sign. That alone is insufficient.
The HMRC page also creates a real problem. It describes rules for incapacitated people and minors, while the supplied current text of section 106 marks those earlier subsections as omitted. The manual should therefore be checked against current legislation before relying on it.
- Do not treat an HMRC manual as if it were the legislation.
- Do not assume a power of attorney covers every SDLT task without reading it.
- Do not confuse someone helping complete a form with someone making its declaration.
- Do not assume the estate rule applies where the buyer is still alive.
- Do not assume the manual’s statements about guardians remain current law.
Key takeaways
- Estate representatives take over SDLT duties for a buyer who has died.
- A written, signed power of attorney can permit another person to make the return declaration.
- The HMRC manual’s comments on incapacity and minors need current-law checking.
Technical analysis
For advisers, and for anyone who wants to check the law behind this page. You do not need this section to understand the guidance above.
Legislation
- FA 2003 section 106 — duties of representatives handling a deceased buyer’s estate; duties of a receiver controlling affected property
- FA 2003 section 81B — signing a return using a written power of attorney
- FA 2003 Schedule 10 para 1 — the required declaration that a return is correct
- FA 2003 Schedule 10 para 1B — return declarations made by the Official Solicitor
Official guidance
The pages below are HMRC’s guidance. Guidance is not law. It sets out how HMRC reads the legislation, and it is not binding on you, on a tribunal or on a court. Where guidance and the legislation differ, the legislation wins. HMRC can also change or withdraw guidance, and it may not cover your facts.
Where this is not settled
- The HMRC manual describes provisions for incapacitated people and minors that are not present in the supplied current text of section 106.
- The supplied materials do not establish what current SDLT rule, if any, replaces the omitted parts of section 106 for a parent, guardian, trustee or other person managing an incapacitated person’s property.
- The statutory material is current only to 17 November 2025, so current publication needs an official legislation check.
Evidence you would need
This kind of case is decided on the facts of the individual property. These are the records that usually settle it, and the ones an adviser would ask you for.
- The document showing who has authority to act for the buyer or estate.
- A signed written power of attorney where someone will make the return declaration.
- Documents showing the buyer has died and who is handling the estate.
- The formal appointment and scope of control where a receiver is involved.
- The completed return and the information used to support it.
Explore this with an AI
Readers often want to test their own situation. Copy the prompt below into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. It hands the model the actual legislation for this page rather than letting it answer from memory, and tells it to be explicit about what is uncertain. What comes back is information, not advice – check it against the links above.
I am researching UK Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), which applies in England and Northern Ireland. MY QUESTION Who can deal with stamp duty when the buyer cannot act? [Replace this with your own situation: what you are buying, the price, the dates, who the buyer is, and what you plan to do with the property.] THE LAW THIS TURNS ON - FA 2003 section 106 - duties of representatives handling a deceased buyer's estate https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/106/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 106 - duties of a receiver controlling affected property https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/106/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 section 81B - signing a return using a written power of attorney https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/81B/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 10 para 1 - the required declaration that a return is correct https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/10/paragraph/1/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 10 para 1B - return declarations made by the Official Solicitor https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/10/paragraph/1B/2025-11-17 Guidance page from HMRC on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm31900 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. Guidance from HMRC is its view of the law, not the law, and does not bind a tribunal or a court. 2. Tell me what the rule actually requires, in plain English. 3. Tell me which facts decide the answer, and which facts would change it. 4. Tell me what evidence I would need to support the position. 5. Be explicit about anything unsettled or fact-sensitive. Do not guess. 6. Your training data has a cutoff and SDLT rates and reliefs change at fiscal events. Say so if you are not sure the law is current. POINTS ALREADY KNOWN TO BE UNCERTAIN ON THIS TOPIC - The HMRC manual describes provisions for incapacitated people and minors that are not present in the supplied current text of section 106. - The supplied materials do not establish what current SDLT rule, if any, replaces the omitted parts of section 106 for a parent, guardian, trustee or other person managing an incapacitated person's property. - The statutory material is current only to 17 November 2025, so current publication needs an official legislation check. Do not give me a conclusion you cannot support from the provisions above.
Legislation links show Finance Act 2003 as it stood on 2025-11-17. The law may have changed since, and the rules that apply are those in force on the date of your transaction. The official guidance this page is based on is here.
This page was last updated on 1 September 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Who can deal with stamp duty when the buyer cannot act?
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