Stamp duty revenue hits all-time high

Total revenue raised from residential property sales rocketed by 40 per cent in 2006/2007 to a record £6.4 billion, new figures announced by HM Revenue & Customs show.

The news coincides with shadow chancellor George Osborne’s promise that a Conservative government would abolish stamp duty on properties worth up to £250,000.

Currently there is no stamp duty on properties worth less than £125,000, with the threshold kicking in at one per cent above this figure.

According to records kept by the Halifax Building Society annual residential stamp duty revenue has more than doubled during the past five years.

In the same period, revenue raised by the higher stamp duty bands (three per cent of sales between £250,000 and £500,000 and four per cent over £500,000) has tripled, accounting for nearly 80 per cent of total stamp duty revenue.

If the lowest stamp duty threshold had been increased in line with house price inflation since 1993 it would now stand at £193,000 instead of the current £125,000.

Stamp duty is regarded as one of the major obstacles facing home buyers and one of many factors - such as council tax and home insurance - that homebuyers fail to budget adequately for.

02/10/2007 14:36:56