SDLT letter of authority: letting an agent deal with HMRC
At a glance
HMRC’s manual provides a draft letter for authorising an agent to deal with SDLT correspondence for named property matters. It also includes an optional authority for HMRC to send a related repayment to that agent.
- Identify the property or properties.
- Include the UTRN if applicable.
- Sign and date the letter.
- Check bank details if repayment authority is needed.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
SDLT letter of authority: letting an agent deal with HMRC
If you want an agent to speak to HMRC about your stamp duty land tax, HMRC provides an example letter that you can complete, name the property, yourself and the agent in, and send. It can cover a repayment too.
What this rule is about
A property buyer may want an accountant, tax adviser or other agent to handle SDLT contact with HMRC. HMRC’s internal manual includes a draft letter for this.
This is not a new stamp duty rule. It simply tells HMRC who may act for you on a particular SDLT matter.
The key issue is scope: make clear which property or properties the agent may deal with.
What the official source says
HMRC says you can complete its draft and send it to BT – Stamp Duty Land Tax, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1HD, United Kingdom, asking HMRC to accept the agent for SDLT matters linked to the listed property or properties. The letter needs details.
- Give the UTRN if one applies.
- List the property or properties the authority covers.
- Give your name, address and telephone number.
- Give the agent’s name, address and telephone number.
- Ask HMRC to correspond with the agent.
- Ask HMRC to include the agent in future correspondence about those SDLT matters.
The manual also includes an optional repayment section. You can use it to ask HMRC to pay a repayment for the listed matter to the agent on your behalf.
- Name the agent who should receive the repayment.
- Give the account name.
- Give the bank name, account number and sort code.
- Sign and date the letter.
HMRC’s manual gives guidance, not legislation. It provides a useful example letter rather than full legal rules on agency or repayments.
What this means in practice
A clear letter can avoid a simple problem: unless you give HMRC this authority, it may write only to you while your agent prepares the SDLT papers or handles a query. That can slow things down.
Do not assume a general instruction to your agent will meet this HMRC process. The source shows the details HMRC expects in a letter of authority.
- Match the property details to the SDLT matter.
- Use the UTRN where available.
- Check every contact detail before sending the letter.
- Include repayment bank details only if you want the agent paid.
- Keep a copy of the signed letter and the details sent.
How to analyse it
Start with one simple question: what exactly do you want the agent to do? Your answer determines whether the basic authority wording is enough or whether you need the optional repayment section.
- Identify the SDLT matter and the relevant property.
- Check whether there is a UTRN to include.
- Decide who should receive HMRC’s letters.
- Decide whether any repayment should go to the agent.
- If so, check the bank details with care.
- Make sure the person giving authority signs and dates the letter.
What should you avoid leaving vague? The property details.
If several properties or SDLT matters exist, say which ones the letter covers.
Example
Rina bought 24 Market Street and wants her tax agent, Northside Tax, to deal with HMRC’s SDLT correspondence. Her letter gives her contact details, the agent’s contact details and the address of 24 Market Street.
She adds the UTRN because one is available. Rina signs and dates it.
Later, she expects a repayment linked to that same SDLT matter, and if she wants HMRC to pay Northside Tax instead, the example letter shows that she should complete the repayment section and give the requested bank details. The extra section matters.
Why this can be difficult in practice
People often focus on the agent’s name and miss the authority’s limits. Yet the source ties that authority to the property or properties named in the letter.
Bank details need extra care because, although the repayment section is optional, it asks for enough information to direct money to an agent’s account. Check them closely.
- A missing signature may leave the letter incomplete.
- Wrong property details may create confusion about the SDLT matter covered.
- An old address or phone number can make contact harder.
- Repayment authority is different from authority to receive correspondence.
- The source does not explain how HMRC handles unusual authority arrangements.
Key takeaways
- HMRC provides an example SDLT letter of authority.
- Name the property, yourself and the agent clearly.
- Use the separate section if a repayment should go to the agent.
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.
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 source does not say whether HMRC will accept every differently worded letter or electronic form of authority.
- The source does not set out checks HMRC may make before adding an agent or sending a repayment.
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 signed and dated letter
- the property details covered by the authority
- the buyer’s contact details
- the agent’s contact details
- the UTRN, if one applies
- bank account details if repayment authority is included
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 SDLT letter of authority: letting an agent deal with HMRC [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.] HMRC's guidance page on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/stamp-duty-land-tax-manual/sdltm61510 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 source does not say whether HMRC will accept every differently worded letter or electronic form of authority. - The source does not set out checks HMRC may make before adding an agent or sending a repayment. 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: SDLT letter of authority: letting an agent deal with HMRC
Search Land Tax Advice with Google
