My wife is a EU national residing in the UK and I am a New Zealander . We just offered on a house and our solicitor advised that we 'may' (!?) be liable to pay a 3% duty surcharge as we own foreign investments . This is a terrible news as it would put this whole deal in jeopardy.
My wife owns an investment property with her siblings which they inherited from family members. This investment is structured as a limited company with them as directors/ shareholders. I also co-own a property back home with my brother on a BtL mortgage.
Based on our circumstances, are we liable to pay the surcharge ? If we are, how likely is HMRC to investigate and trace these interests back to our mortgage application in UK considering that 1. no foreign income is reported to UK accounts 2. current deposit was earned from our UK salaries over time ?
Any other tips and loophole to legally avoid/reduce liability are much welcome... and many thanks for sharing your experiences
Johna
