When you need paper SDLT2, SDLT3 or SDLT4 forms
Paper SDLT supplementary forms
HMRC says that some paper SDLT1 returns need SDLT2, SDLT3 or SDLT4 for extra details.
- SDLT2 covers extra buyers or sellers.
- SDLT3 covers extra properties and addresses that do not fit.
- SDLT4 covers listed complex features, such as company buyers or variable payments.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
When you need paper SDLT2, SDLT3 or SDLT4 forms
Paper stamp duty returns sometimes need extra forms. HMRC says SDLT2, SDLT3 and SDLT4 provide details that the main SDLT1 form cannot contain. Send each extra form with SDLT1. Otherwise, HMRC cannot add its details.
What this rule is about
An SDLT1 is the main paper return for a land deal. Some deals need additional forms. They may involve too many people, several properties, a company, a new lease, or an unusual payment arrangement that requires information beyond what a single SDLT1 can capture. One form may not hold it all.
The law requires a land transaction return for a notifiable deal. It also says the return must use HMRC’s prescribed form and include its prescribed information. The detailed form instructions here come from HMRC’s manual.
That matters because the manual is guidance, not law. Still, it explains how HMRC says it processes a paper SDLT1 and its supporting forms.
What the official source says
HMRC says you must complete and submit the relevant supplementary paper form with the SDLT1 return when filing on paper, whereas an online return generates the extra questions through the system. The system asks them instead.
- Use SDLT2 where there are more than two sellers or more than two buyers.
- If additional buyers and sellers together number more than 99, use a schedule for the remaining details.
- That schedule should contain the information requested on SDLT2.
- Use SDLT3 for every extra F/O property.
- Use SDLT3 if the property’s address will not fit on the SDLT1.
- For six or more properties, HMRC directs you to separate guidance.
- Use SDLT4 where the buyer is a company.
- Use SDLT4 where the deal forms part of buying a business.
- Use SDLT4 where HMRC has issued a post-transaction ruling.
- Use SDLT4 where any part of the amount paid depends on a later event.
- Use SDLT4 where HMRC has agreed payment of the tax by instalments.
- Use SDLT4 where the deal grants a new lease.
- Use SDLT4 where the SDLT1 has code L or A in the stated question and the later stated question exceeds 1.
What this means in practice
Start with the facts, not the tax result. Count every buyer and seller. Count every property. Then check whether the deal has one of the features that HMRC lists for SDLT4.
Do not treat an extra form as a separate return. It supports the SDLT1. After receiving the forms, HMRC adds the supplementary details to the main SDLT1 record.
- Send the SDLT1 and every needed extra form together to the Stamp Office.
- Keep the names, addresses and deal details consistent across all forms.
- Check whether an online return would ask the same extra questions automatically.
- Keep a copy of any schedule used for more than 99 additional people.
How to analyse it
Work through the forms in a simple order. The key question is not whether the deal feels complicated. It is whether it matches one of HMRC’s listed situations.
- First, confirm that you are making a paper SDLT1 return.
- Next, count the buyers and sellers shown in the deal documents.
- Then count the properties and check whether every address fits on the SDLT1.
- Check the codes entered in the SDLT1 questions referred to by HMRC.
- Look for a company buyer, business purchase, new lease, ruling, instalment agreement, or variable payment.
- If the deal covers six or more properties, read the further HMRC guidance that the manual names.
- Finally, send the supporting forms with the corresponding SDLT1.
Example
Rosa buys one property from one seller in her own name. Rosa’s price is fixed. Her address fits on the SDLT1. The deal grants no lease. On the facts in HMRC’s list, there is no obvious reason for SDLT2 or SDLT3. SDLT4 also does not appear necessary.
Change one fact: Rosa agrees to pay an extra £20,000 if a later planning event happens, and HMRC’s manual identifies a payment dependent on a later event as a reason to include SDLT4. SDLT4 records that feature. The extra form helps HMRC record that feature of the deal.
Why this can be difficult in practice
The forms use short codes and compressed questions. That makes it easy to miss a trigger, especially where a deal has several properties or a payment clause outside the headline price.
One processing point causes particular trouble: HMRC says the Stamp Office cannot enter information from SDLT2, SDLT3 or SDLT4 until it has scanned and captured the matching paper SDLT1, so sending an extra form alone will not move matters forward. The SDLT1 must match.
- People often count only buyers and miss additional sellers.
- A long address may need SDLT3 even where there is only one property.
- A conditional top-up payment can matter even if nobody expects it to become due.
- The manual does not explain the SDLT1 codes, so do not guess what they mean.
- Six or more properties need the separate guidance rather than assumptions based on this page alone.
Key takeaways
- Paper SDLT returns may need SDLT2, SDLT3 or SDLT4 alongside SDLT1.
- Online SDLT returns generate the supplementary questions automatically.
- Send matching paper forms together, because HMRC links them to the scanned SDLT1.
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 76 — duty to deliver a land transaction return
- FA 2003 Schedule 10 para 1 — prescribed form and information for SDLT returns
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 manual’s SDLT3 wording groups the F or O code with additional-property cases. It does not clearly explain every possible combination of those facts.
- The source does not explain what the SDLT1 codes F, O, L and A mean. Check the current SDLT1 form and notes before choosing a code.
- The source gives a Stamp Office contact link, but postal addresses and operational arrangements can change.
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 completed SDLT1 and any matching supplementary forms
- The number and details of all buyers and sellers
- The number, addresses and tenure codes for all properties
- Documents showing whether the price can change later
- Any HMRC post-transaction ruling
- Lease documents where the deal grants a new lease
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 When you need paper SDLT2, SDLT3 or SDLT4 forms [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 76 - duty to deliver a land transaction return https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/section/76/2025-11-17 - FA 2003 Schedule 10 para 1 - prescribed form and information for SDLT returns https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/14/schedule/10/paragraph/1/2025-11-17 HMRC's guidance page on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm60210 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. HMRC guidance is HMRC's 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 manual's SDLT3 wording groups the F or O code with additional-property cases. It does not clearly explain every possible combination of those facts. - The source does not explain what the SDLT1 codes F, O, L and A mean. Check the current SDLT1 form and notes before choosing a code. - The source gives a Stamp Office contact link, but postal addresses and operational arrangements can change. 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: When you need paper SDLT2, SDLT3 or SDLT4 forms
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