Stamp Duty

By Caroline Parsons

The last couple of years have seen a number of changes brought in to help keep the housing market moving, the most recent one coming in the ‘mini’ budget in September. The budget saw a cut in stamp duty with an increase of the threshold at which stamp duty ‘kicks in’ being doubled from £125,000 to £250,000. For first time buyers the threshold rose to £425000 from £300,000 and it appears from the Autumn Statement announced on Thursday 17 November by Jeremy Hunt that the stamp duty cuts announced last month will remain in place until March 2025.

We all know when purchasing a property that we may be liable for stamp duty but may not understand what it is. In simple terms it is a tax which may have to be paid when purchasing a property and the amount is dependent on the price of that property. Originally introduced in England 1694 to fund the war against France, stamp duty on the purchase of a property was one of a number of items on which you had to pay a fixed level of tax following purchase up until 1808 when the amount payable was calculated with reference to the value of the transaction.  The Finance Act 2003 introduced Stamp Duty Land Tax which is the current situation in England and Northern Ireland. In Scotland it was replaced by a Land and Buildings Transaction Tax in 2015 and in Wales stamp duty was replaced with Land Transaction Tax in 2016.

For further information on how stamp duty may affect your decision making when considering your purchase or on any other aspect of property transactions please contact our Residential Conveyancing Department or our Commercial Property Department on 01722 410664 or visit our website at www.sampsoncoward.co.uk 

 Caroline Parsons