Solicitors are starting to cancel retainers rather than accede to client demands for tax advice in the wake of the Angela Rayner stamp duty saga.

Solicitor and tax specialist Amanda Perrotton said last week that she was aware of at least one firm that had walked away from a client who was asking for advice on stamp duty land tax. But others continue to field questions about stamp duty and potentially put themselves at risk.

The issue has come to the fore since then deputy prime minister Rayner admitted not paying the correct amount of stamp duty on a second property. She had said she relied on advice that was given, but her lawyers denied giving her specific tax advice.

Perrotton told an audience of conveyancing lawyers at a Newcastle Law Society seminar that they were ‘hugely vulnerable’ if they undertook work beyond their scope.

‘As soon as Angela Rayner had the spotlight on her, her first reaction was to say she was incorrectly advised – and your clients will react in the same way,’ said Perrotton. ‘If something becomes complicated you need to farm the tax advice out or at the very least you need to be saying to your clients ‘we will not be dealing with this’.

‘If you can’t work [the stamp duty] out by putting it into the SDLT calculator, it is getting too complicated. If you find yourself taking half an hour or more then it’s getting complicated and you are not insured and not qualified.’

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Perrotton suggested that firms create separate documents for dealing with conveyancing matters and tax matters and be very clear with clients about the scope of their retainer. She pointed out that one of the biggest reasons for claims against firms’ professional indemnity insurance was incorrect stamp duty advice.

‘It is incumbent on us as a profession to get this message through to clients. Educate clients there are elements of the transaction you simply do not wear a hat for, otherwise it will create a lot of sleepless nights. [Lawyers] will always get the blame as you are easy targets.’