Can I get a refund on stamp duty, which I've paid twice?

My wife and I have split up and I agreed to buy out her half of the flat we bought together

Q In September 2017 my wife and I bought a flat in joint names as our permanent home and paid stamp duty. We have now separated and as part of our separation agreement, I paid her a sum of £250,000 for her half share of the flat in order to get full title of the property. I paid £2,500 in stamp duty so that means that stamp duty has been paid twice on this property. Is it possible to get this sum refunded?
MH

A It should be possible to get a refund of the second lot stamp duty land tax (SDLT) you have paid because you shouldn’t have been charged it in the first place. In the words of HM Revenue & Customs: “If you” – or in your case, your ex-wife – “transfer an interest in land or property to your partner as part of an agreement or court order because you are either divorcing or dissolving a civil partnership, you don’t pay SDLT.” And “in these cases there’s no need to tell HMRC about the transfer even if the value is more than the SDLT threshold” of £125,000.

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