SDLTM09885 | SDLT - increased rates for non-resident transactions: Spouses and civil partners of UK residents - para 12 Sch 9A FA03

For chargeable transactions where there are two or more purchasers who will be jointly entitled to the interest acquired and:

• on the effective date of the transaction, the purchasers, or (if there are more than two) two of them, are spouses or civil partners of each other;

• on the effective date of the transaction, those spouses or civil partners are living together;

• one of those spouses or civil partners is UK resident in relation to the chargeable transaction;

• one of those spouses or civil partners is non-UK resident in relation to the chargeable transaction; and

• neither of the spouses or civil partners is acting as a trustee of a settlement,

then for the purposes of the surcharge, the non-UK resident spouse or civil partner is treated as UK resident in relation to the chargeable transaction.

This also applies where one of those spouses of civil partners becomes UK resident after the effective date of transaction (see SDLTM09960A ).

Section 1011 of the Income Tax Act 2007 applies for the purposes of determining whether spouses or civil partners are living together. Under this section, individuals who are married to, or are civil partners of, each other are treated as living together unless:

• they are separated under an order of a court of competent jurisdiction;

• they are separated by deed of separation; or

• they are in fact separated in circumstances in which the separation is likely to be permanent.

Example

Thierry, Diego and Katie live in the USA. They jointly purchase a freehold residential property in Northern Ireland on 1 June 2025 for £950,000.

Between 2 June 2024 and 1 June 2025, Thierry spent 183 days in the UK, and is therefore UK resident in relation to the transaction.

Between 2 June 2024 and 1 June 2025, Diego spent 183 days in the UK. He is therefore UK resident in relation to the transaction.

Between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025, Katie spent 100 days in the UK. She also spent 3 days in the UK on 10-13 June 2024, and 80 days in the UK between 2 August 2025 and 1 June 2026. Although she has spent 183 days in the UK during the relevant time period 2 June 2024 to 1 June 2026, this has not been within a continuous 365-day period.

However, Katie and Thierry are married. On 1 June 2025 they were living together, and neither were acting as a trustee of a settlement in relation to the transaction. Therefore, under paragraph 12, Katie is treated as UK resident in relation to the transaction.

As all three purchasers are UK resident in relation to the transaction, the purchase is not liable to the surcharge.