Stamp Duty
SDLT, or Stamp Duty Land Tax to give it its full name, is a lump sum tax paid by anyone buying property (or land for that matter) in England or Northern Ireland. (Property bought in Scotland is instead liable for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and property in Wales has Land Transaction Tax. )
Whether you are purchasing the property for freehold, leasehold, through a shared ownership scheme or exchange as part payment, Stamp Duty will need to be paid but the amount will depend on several factors.
For all residential properties, the current minimum threshold is £125,000 but in certain circumstances, you may be eligible for a discount. For example, first-time buyers currently receive Stamp Duty Relief if the property is under £300,000.
**On the 8 July 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a Stamp Duty Holiday for all house purchases until 31 March 2021. This now means that the minimum threshold is currently £500,000. Read more about it **
You may also be able to reduce the amount of Stamp Duty if you are purchasing Multiple Dwellings. For more information, speak to one of our advisors or head over to the GOV.UK website.
If the property you are purchasing is an additional Buy to Let or second property, there will be an additional 3% stamp duty surcharge.
To find out about current Stamp Duty Tax bandings or use our Stamp Duty Calculator, read on…
Stamp Duty Calculator
The current bandings for residential properties are:
Investor | Next Time Buyer | FT Buyer | ||||||||||
Purchase Price | Before SDH | With SDH | Before SDH | With SDH | Before SDH | With SDH | ||||||
Up to £125,000 | 3% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||||||
£125,000.01 – £250,000 | 5% | 3% | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% | ||||||
£250,000.01 – £500,000 | 8% | 3% | 5% | 0% | 0% – up to £300k | 0% | ||||||
£500,000.01 – £925,000 | 8% | 8% | 5% | 5% | 5% | 5% | ||||||
£925,000.01 – £1,500,000 | 13% | 13% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 10% | ||||||
>£1,500,000.01 | 15% | 15% | 12% | 12% | 12% | 12% | ||||||
Changes In April 2016 For Landlords & Second Home Purchasers
In 2016 a 3% Stamp Duty Surcharge on Buy to Lets and second homes was introduced. For clarity, this is in addition to the above current bandings and is on any purchase over £40,000 in value.
It was initially proposed in 2015 that companies owning 15 or more properties would be exempt from the surcharge – however in George Osborne’s March 2016 budget, this was repealed and is not the case – the surcharges are to be paid by companies of any size.
When purchasing any property we strongly recommend that you seek professional tax advice as well, as upon disposal of your property, purchase costs including stamp duty can be offset to mitigate your CGT liability
Coupled with the recent changes to personal taxation – Limited Company Mortgages are becoming more popular than ever before.
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