Solicitors have hit back at the taxman's claim that they are to blame for the delays in the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) process.

Revenue & Customs has reported that of the estimated 35% of rejected returns, some 87% were due to simple mistakes or the omission of essential information.


Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said the implication that solicitors were to blame for the 'horrendous state of the current system' was 'simply wrong'. She said: 'We have hundreds of examples of forms that have been filled in correctly but have been rejected. Instead of trying to point the finger of blame at solicitors, the Revenue should be investing time in making their systems work.'


Denis Cameron, chairman of the Society's conveyancing and land law committee, said scanning cannot work properly with handwritten forms and the answer lies with on-line filing, recently launched by the Revenue.