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Financial Services > Mortgages > Mortgage Fees and Costs > Stamp Duty Calculator, Rates and Information

Stamp Duty Guide

Stamp Duty Guide
Stamp Duty Guide

Stamp Duty, or Stamp Duty Land Tax as it applies to the purchase of property, is a form of tax involved in the home-buying process.

Stamp Duty is applied when a consumer buys either property or certain shares.

Stamp Duty Land Tax is paid when property is bought. Stamp Duty or Stamp Duty Reserve Tax applies in the case of shares. All property above a set price attracts Stamp Duty Land Tax, be it a house, barn, flat or any other building or land.

As of August 2008, Stamp Duty has been temporarily changed. The threshold at which stamp duty is charged at 1 per cent has been increased for one year from £125,000 to £175,000. This means that for any house under £175,000 in value, stamp duty is currently suspended.

For some consumers at the bottom of the market, stamp duty land tax may not even apply, but for the majority of house transactions some level of stamp duty land tax will be levied.

Calculate stamp duty cost
Property price: £
     
Land tax:     %
Stamp duty :  £

Currently, if the purchase price of a property falls below £125,000, the buyer does not have to pay Stamp Duty.

However, if the price of the property exceeds £125,000 the buyer has to pay between one and four per cent of the total purchase price to satisfy Stamp Duty Land Tax.

Stamp Duty varies for properties under shared ownership. Please see our guide to Shared Ownership Stamp Duty for more information on this topic.

Stamp Duty rates

Stamp Duty rates for residential property are set out below:

Property Purchase
Price
Stamp Duty Land
Tax Rate
Up to £125,000 0%
£125,000 - £250,000 1%
£250,001-£500,000 3%
£500,001 and above 4%

 

Are there exceptions to Stamp Duty?

Generally, there are no exceptions to Stamp Duty Land Tax. However, for those people that purchase a property in an area designated by the government as being ‘disadvantaged,’ the limit of 0% stamp duty climbs to £150,000. For this reason, property bought in these areas that costs less than £150,000 does not attract any stamp duty.

A further exception to the Stamp Duty Land Tax rules applies to ‘zero carbon’ homes. This requires the house to fulfil a complex set of regulations, including renewable power, high quality insulation and other criteria. Some zero carbon homes qualify as exempt from Stamp Duty Land Tax. Those under £500,000 and zero carbon attract no stamp duty, those above £500,000 have their bill reduced by £15,000.

Who pays for Stamp Duty Land Tax?

The buyer of the property is responsible for paying stamp duty land tax. This is usually handled by a conveyancer or solicitor on behalf of a client.

Stamp Duty news


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