Posted by
Diego
15 yrs ago
Dear all,
I want to rent a small house in Tai Po & the owner does not want to sign a lease with stamp duty
He mentioned to me that this is a way for him to avoid paying taxes
He will just sign a private agreement with me.
What is the catch in signing such an agreement without stamp duty?
I do not want to sign anything & end up in big trouble later on....
Thanks for your help!
Is this legal?
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If he doesn't want to do it the "right way", then of course you could always argue that you won't give him any deposit (since you have no security of tenure), then that would perhaps be fair.
The big problem as Cara says is if anything goes wrong inside the house then you should be prepared for the fact that you may end up paying for repairs yourself.
I suppose it all depends on how you negotiate with him and put in the private agreement and how much you trust him.
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If the agreement is not stamped, it cannot be enforced by the court in case any dispute arises. However, this is just an administrative procedure. Any of the two parties can always get the agreement stamped later on before going to court by paying a penalty (I guess a few times of the initial stamping fee) as long as you have a copy of the signed agreement.
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190k
15 yrs ago
By doing that the landlored may be guilty of "Evading Liability by Deception" on the stamp duty and profit tax from the rental. If you know about this then you can be liable for Aiding and Abbetting. Both are criminal offences with criminal records that may effect you visa etc be careful
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IMHO walk away is the best course of action.
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