Getting help with Land Transaction Tax from family or friends
Help with LTT
You can authorise a trusted family member or friend to speak to WRA and help with forms. Formal LTT declarations have separate rules.
- WRA calls the person a trusted helper
- Permission to help may not allow signing
- A power of attorney may be needed
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Getting help with Land Transaction Tax from family or friends
Getting help with Land Transaction Tax from family or friends
You can give a family member or friend permission to help with Land Transaction Tax (LTT), Wales’s stamp duty tax, and speak to the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) for you. WRA calls them a trusted helper. This can make forms and phone calls less daunting.
What this rule is about
While you are buying property, tax can feel difficult to manage alone, and WRA’s guidance says that you can appoint someone you trust to deal with it on your behalf. That help has limits. Letting someone support you does not automatically let them sign every formal tax declaration.
What the official source says
Once you have given permission, WRA says that a trusted helper can deal with it for you. The page provides practical examples rather than a full list of tasks.
- They can talk to WRA for you.
- They can help you fill in forms.
- Citizens Advice can also help with tax questions.
- Businesses can get information from Business Wales.
What this means in practice
When you are gathering information and trying to understand what WRA needs from you, a trusted helper can make things easier by acting as a useful second pair of eyes. That can help.
- Choose someone you are happy to discuss your tax affairs with.
- Tell WRA that you want that person to act as your helper.
- Keep checking important information before it is sent.
How to analyse it
Begin by identifying the task your helper will carry out. Calling WRA is different from signing a formal LTT return.
- Check whether you only need help understanding a form.
- Check whether WRA needs authority before speaking to your helper.
- Check who must make any declaration on the return.
Example
Nia, who is buying a home in Wales and finds the tax form confusing, gives WRA permission to speak to her sister so that her sister can help Nia understand the questions. Her sister can help. If someone else is to sign Nia’s LTT declaration, the law requires that person to have a written, signed power of attorney.
Why this can be difficult in practice
Because people often assume that permission to make calls covers every step, they can overlook the stricter rules that apply to a formal declaration. It may not.
- Help with a form is not always authority to sign it.
- An agent completing a return does not remove the buyer’s responsibilities.
- The source does not set out every task a trusted helper may do.
Key takeaways
- You can ask a trusted friend or relative to help with LTT.
- They can speak to WRA if you give permission.
- Signing a formal declaration may need a power of attorney.
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
- LTTA 2017 section 53 — declarations where an agent completes an LTT return
- LTTA 2017 section 55 — written power of attorney for another person signing
Official guidance
The pages below are the Welsh Revenue Authority’s guidance. Guidance is not law. It sets out how the Welsh Revenue Authority 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. the Welsh Revenue Authority can also change or withdraw guidance, and it may not cover your facts.
Where this is not settled
- The source does not say whether its usual trusted-helper permission is enough for every LTT-related form or declaration.
- The current administrative process for giving authority to act should be checked with WRA.
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.
- Details of the person you want WRA to speak to.
- The form or contact route WRA currently requires for authority to act.
- A written, signed power of attorney if someone will sign the formal LTT declaration for an individual.
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 Land Transaction Tax (LTT), the tax on property in Wales. It replaced Stamp Duty Land Tax in Wales on 1 April 2018, and SDLT does not apply in Wales. MY QUESTION Getting help with Land Transaction Tax from family or friends [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 - LTTA 2017 section 53 - declarations where an agent completes an LTT return https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/53 - LTTA 2017 section 55 - written power of attorney for another person signing https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/section/55 Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/get-extra-help-tax-welsh-revenue-authority#56521 HOW I WANT YOU TO ANSWER 1. Work from the legislation above. Read it before answering. Guidance from the Welsh Revenue Authority 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 source does not say whether its usual trusted-helper permission is enough for every LTT-related form or declaration. - The current administrative process for giving authority to act should be checked with WRA. Do not give me a conclusion you cannot support from the provisions above.
Legislation links show the Land Transaction Tax and Anti-avoidance of Devolved Taxes (Wales) Act 2017 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 3 September 2026
Useful article? You may find it helpful to read the original guidance here: Getting help with Land Transaction Tax from family or friends
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