Stamp duty tax is a tax you pay when you buy a property over a certain price ‘threshold’. How much you pay depends on the value of the property you’re buying. It also depends on whether you’re buying your first home or your next home.
You only pay stamp duty if your property is above a certain payment threshold. If you buy a property for less than the threshold, you will not need to pay stamp duty.
If you buy property over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland, you will need to pay a stamp duty tax to the government. Here you can calculate how much stamp duty you will have to pay.
The thresholds for stamp duty are:
These are the current rates for stamp duty:
| Up to £250,000 | Zero |
| The next £675,000 (the portion from £250,001 to £925,000) | 5% |
| The next £575,000 (the portion from £925,001 to £1.5 million) | 10% |
| The remaining amount (the portion above £1.5 million) | 12% |
For first-time buyers, the threshold before stamp duty is paid is £425,000. This means that anyone looking to buy their first home won’t need to pay any stamp duty if it costs £425,000 or less. However, if your home costs more then you will need to pay stamp duty on the difference.
For example, if you buy a house for £500,000, here’s how the stamp duty would be calculated:
For people buying their next home and looking to either upsize or downsize, the threshold is £250,000. This means you won’t need to pay any stamp duty on homes that cost £250,000 or less.
Stamp duty must be paid within 14 days of completion and will usually be done through your solicitor or conveyancer.
