Stamp duty will be cut for 98% of people who pay it.
In George Osbourne’s Autumn statement, it was announced that from Thursday 4 December stamp duty will be cut for 98% of people who pay it.
What does this mean?
Under the old rules if you bought a house for £185,000, you would have had to pay 1% tax on the full amount – a total of £1,850. Now, under the new rules, for the same property you’ll pay nothing on the first £125,000 and 2% on the remaining £60,000. This works out as £1,200, a saving of £650.
In Scotland the new rates will apply until 1 April 2015, when the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax replaces stamp duty in Scotland.
The new rates of stamp duty are:
Purchase price of property (£) New rates paid on the part of the property price within each tax band 0 – 125,000 0% 125,001 – 250,000 2% 250,001 – 925,000 5% 925,001 – 1,500,000 10% 1,500,001 and over 12%
| Purchase price of property (£) | New rates paid on the part of the property price within each tax band |
| 0 – 125,000 | 0% |
| 125,001 – 250,000 | 2% |
| 250,001 – 925,000 | 5% |
| 925,001 – 1,500,000 | 10% |
| 1,500,001 and over | 12% |