Evidence needed after selling your old home for an LTT refund
The short answer
For a higher-rate LTT refund, WRA asks for electronic evidence that you sold your previous main home.
- England or Wales: use a signed and dated TR1, TP1 or contract of sale.
- Outside England or Wales: use a completion statement with the required figures.
- Documents for your new home do not prove the old home was sold.
Scroll down for the full analysis.
Read the original guidance here:
Evidence needed after selling your old home for an LTT refund
Evidence needed after selling your old home for an LTT refund
When you claim back higher-rate Land Transaction Tax after selling your old home, Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) needs evidence of that sale.
The refund application must establish what happened to your previous main residence. Land Transaction Tax is Wales’s property purchase tax, often called stamp duty. Send evidence for the home you sold.
What this rule is about
You may be able to get a refund if you paid higher LTT when buying a new home before selling your old one. This applies where the legal conditions for replacing your main home are met.
Those conditions still matter.
Sale evidence is part of the refund application. It helps WRA confirm that your old home has been sold.
What the official source says
WRA says you must upload an electronic copy showing that your previous main residence has sold.
The document WRA requires depends on where that property was. Its location determines the document.
- For England/Wales, send signed, dated TR1.
- You can instead send a signed and dated TP1 transfer-of-part form.
- You can instead send a signed and dated contract of sale.
- For a property outside England or Wales, send a completion statement.
- Show the completion total due and breakdown.
What this means in practice
Before starting the application, check that the document relates to the old home and contains the information WRA needs.
Make sure it is available as a clear electronic copy. An incomplete document may not show WRA what it needs to see. Clarity matters.
- Match the document to the address of the old home.
- Check that a TR1 or TP1 has been signed and dated.
- For an overseas sale, check that the completion statement includes both required amounts.
- Keep the document you upload with your application records.
How to analyse it
Start with the sale, then establish where the old home was and select the document that proves it, instead of treating any property form as sufficient.
Check the old home first.
- Did you sell the home that you say was your previous main residence?
- Was that home in England or Wales, or somewhere else?
- Is each sale form signed and dated?
- For a home elsewhere, does the completion statement give both the total due and its breakdown?
- Does the document relate to the old home rather than your new home?
Example
Sam bought a new home in Wales and paid the higher LTT rate. Sam then sold the old home in England.
Sam uploads a signed and dated TR1 for the English home with the refund application. A TR1 for the new Welsh home would not prove the sale that matters.
Why this can be difficult in practice
People often focus on the new purchase because that is where they paid tax. Yet this part of the application requires evidence linked to the later sale of the old home.
This proves the old home’s later sale.
- A TR1 or TP1 for your new home is not accepted for this purpose.
- An unsigned TR1 or TP1 for the old home is not accepted.
- An LTT certificate is not accepted as proof that the old home sold.
- Evidence of sale alone does not determine whether all refund conditions are met.
Key takeaways
- Upload evidence for the home you sold.
- Use the document WRA specifies for that property’s location.
- Do not send papers for your new home, an LTT certificate or an unsigned form.
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 Schedule 5 para 8 — when selling later can replace a main home
- LTTA 2017 Schedule 5 para 23 — repayment route after a later home sale
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 official page does not explain what WRA will accept where the usual sale document is unavailable or incomplete.
- Whether a property was your only or main home depends on the full facts, not simply on the sale document.
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.
- An electronic copy for upload with the refund application
- For a property in England or Wales: a signed and dated TR1, TP1 or contract of sale
- For a property outside England or Wales: a completion statement showing the total due on completion and how it is made up
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 Evidence needed after selling your old home for an LTT refund [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 Schedule 5 para 8 - when selling later can replace a main home https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/5/paragraph/8 - LTTA 2017 Schedule 5 para 23 - repayment route after a later home sale https://www.legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2017/1/schedule/5/paragraph/23 Guidance page from the Welsh Revenue Authority on this topic (guidance, not law): https://www.gov.wales/claim-refund-land-transaction-tax-higher-rates 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 official page does not explain what WRA will accept where the usual sale document is unavailable or incomplete. - Whether a property was your only or main home depends on the full facts, not simply on the sale document. 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: Evidence needed after selling your old home for an LTT refund
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