01 / 09 · Law & paper · Tax
Stamp duty was the trap. Then it was the smear.
Alternative-finance SDLT exists so you are not taxed twice when a bank buys a house and sells or co-owns it with you. It is not a Muslim exemption. The 2011 cap on a genuine avoidance scheme is public.
The Mizan desk · 7 September 2026 · 10 min
A conventional mortgage is one land transaction: you buy, the lender takes a charge. A naive Islamic structure is two: the bank buys (SDLT), then sells or shares with you (SDLT again). Without a relieving provision, lawful finance would be fined for existing. HMRC’s alternative-finance rules treat a properly structured Home Purchase Plan as one chargeable transaction. That is equal treatment, not a gift.
The offshore lease story
In March 2025 a political account revived an old tale: Muslims sell to an offshore company, lease back, pay no stamp duty, ‘special laws’. There was a real avoidance pattern using alternative-finance relief and non-UK entities; the government restricted it, including a £2 million cap in the 2010s, because the relief was being used as a scheme. That is tax administration. It is not evidence that your Al Rayan HPP on a £280,000 terrace is a loophole.
If you are buying, instruct a solicitor who has claimed alternative-finance SDLT before. If you are arguing on X, read the Finance Acts, not a carousel.