An E-submission is a secure sending of data that does NOT have a physical signature from you or the client. There is NOT a digital signature either.

Firstly you do not have to have a client signature if you are acting as an “agent” (see below), but if you want a client to sign a declaration this is available at the bottom of each form as a button “SDLT & Declaration” - this prints out a client declaration to sign and a summary of all the answers filled in at the point of printing.

As you are submitting electronically this paper document will only ever remain on file and it should not be sent to HMRC as that would just confuse matters. The requirement for you to get the client to sign the form has always been misunderstood and the official guidance is If you are acting in the capacity as an AGENT, you may recieve authorisation to submit the form electronically in any medium you wish. Email, Verbal, Written etc. Therefore no signature is required, and you should explain (normally via a client care letter on instruction) that you are acting as their Agent, for the submission of their duty, by instructing you they are agreeing that you act as their agent.

We are not allowed to reproduce the SDLT forms in full (they are copyrighted by HMRC). By producing a “summary only” of the answers, this can in no way be interpreted as the complete form(s) and is there as a record for the file only. It is our opinion that if a solicitor wanted to give a completed SDLT form to a client to study he/she would need to give a copy of the actual HMRC SDLT form(s) together with the latest guidance notes on filling these form(s) in. In turn all the why's and wherefores would also need explaining to the Client. Hence this is why we only provide the summary. Finally SDLT.co.uk is finding that fewer and fewer firms are concerned with obtaining a client signature.