Caroline and James's comments were published in City AM, 5 September 2025, and can be seen here.
Caroline Foulger, Partner in our Private Client department, and James Vernor-Miles, Partner in our Residential Property department, have provided commentary in the wake of Angela Rayner's resignation over a stamp duty land tax (SDLT) controversy.
Rayner stepped down from her Deputy Prime Minister role following revelations that she had underpaid £40,000 in tax on her £800,000 Hove property.
In her public statement, she attributed the error to legal advice she received at the time of purchase, though she did not name the firm responsible. This led to speculation and scrutiny of various legal advisers, with several distancing themselves from involvement in the tax advice in question.
Caroline emphasised the importance of clarity in legal retainers, noting that solicitors must be explicit about the scope of their advice. She pointed out that tax advice, particularly concerning SDLT, is a specialised field and not typically covered by general conveyancing services.
James added that if Rayner's conveyancers had asked whether she owned other property and received a negative response, their SDLT advice would have been reasonable based on the information provided. He noted that the simple truth is SDLT is as complex as any other area of tax.
Read the full article on the City AM website [external link].
Caroline Foulger, partner at Hunters Law, stated that "solicitors have to be very clear in their retainer as to what they are and are not advising on", but added that "tax advice is an entirely separate area".She added that SDLT "is a complex area of tax" and surprisingly few practitioners specialise in this area.James Vernor-Miles, head of the residential property at Hunters Law, said: "If Angela Rayner's conveyancers only asked her 'Do you own any other property' and they got the answer 'No' then they gave reasonable advice about the amount of SDLT based on incomplete information."However, he added: "The simple truth about all this is that SDLT is as complicated as any other tax."