You start paying Stamp Duty Land Tax on the effective date of your property purchase, which is normally the day completion happens. From that date, you have 14 calendar days to file your SDLT return and pay the full amount to HMRC. In some cases the effective date arrives before formal completion, so the clock can start earlier than you expect.
What Counts as the Effective Date
For most buyers, the effective date is completion day: your solicitor sends the purchase funds to the seller, you get the keys, and ownership changes hands. That is the moment the tax becomes chargeable.
The effective date can arrive sooner through a rule called substantial performance. A contract is substantially performed if either of two things happens before completion: you take possession of the property, or you pay 90 percent or more of the total purchase price.1GOV.UK. Scope: When Is Stamp Duty Land Tax Chargeable – What Is Substantial Performance FA03 S44(5) “Taking possession” is broader than moving in. It also covers starting renovations or receiving rent from tenants, and it does not require you to hold legal title yet.2GOV.UK. Scope: When Is Stamp Duty Land Tax Chargeable – Contracts and Substantial Performance Whichever comes first, completion or substantial performance, sets the effective date and starts your 14-day window.
One boundary worth noting up front: SDLT applies to property purchases in England and Northern Ireland only. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax. If your purchase is in Scotland or Wales, the deadlines and rates below do not apply to you.
The 14-Day Filing and Payment Window
The SDLT return and the payment both have to reach HMRC within 14 calendar days of the effective date. Filing on day 14 but paying on day 15 still counts as a late payment. In practice, solicitors handle this on or shortly after completion, so most buyers never touch the deadline themselves. If you are handling the purchase without a solicitor, plan the paperwork and the payment together from day one.
How Much You’ll Owe
SDLT is calculated on a slice-by-slice basis: each portion of the purchase price is taxed at the rate for its band. Since 1 April 2025, the standard rates for buying a single home as your main residence are:3GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax – Residential Property Rates
- Up to £125,000: 0%
- £125,001 to £250,000: 2%
- £250,001 to £925,000: 5%
- £925,001 to £1.5 million: 10%
- Above £1.5 million: 12%
A main-residence purchase of £125,000 or less carries no SDLT.
First-Time Buyer Relief
If you have never owned a property before and the price is £500,000 or less, first-time buyer relief applies. You pay nothing on the first £300,000 and 5 percent on the portion from £300,001 to £500,000.4GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax – Temporary Increase to Thresholds Above £500,000 the relief disappears entirely and the standard rates apply to the whole price. Every buyer on the transaction must be a first-time buyer; if you are buying with someone who already owns property, the relief is lost.
Additional-Property Surcharge
If you already own a residential property and buy another, whether a second home, a holiday property, or a buy-to-let, higher rates apply. Since 1 April 2025 these are:5GOV.UK. Higher Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax
- Up to £125,000: 5%
- £125,001 to £250,000: 7%
- £250,001 to £925,000: 10%
- £925,001 to £1.5 million: 15%
- Above £1.5 million: 17%
The surcharge adds 5 percentage points to each band, and there is no nil-rate band for additional properties. SDLT is owed even on purchases under £125,000.
Non-UK Resident Surcharge
Non-UK residents pay an extra 2 percent on top of every other rate that applies, including the additional-property surcharge where relevant.5GOV.UK. Higher Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax For individuals, you count as non-resident if you were not present in the UK for at least 183 days during the 12 months before the purchase.6GOV.UK. Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax for Non-UK Residents Nationality and immigration status are not relevant; only physical presence is. On a joint purchase, if any one buyer is non-resident, all buyers are treated as non-resident. Married couples and civil partners are an exception: if one spouse is UK resident, both are treated as resident.
How Filing and Payment Work
The SDLT return is form SDLT1. It asks for the property address, total purchase price, effective date, and personal identifiers: a National Insurance number and date of birth for individuals, or a Unique Taxpayer Reference for companies.7GOV.UK. How to Complete Your Stamp Duty Land Tax SDLT1 Return Any reliefs, including first-time buyer relief, are recorded on the same return. The price has to be reported accurately because the tax is calculated band by band.
Most returns go through the SDLT Online service, which acknowledges submission immediately and issues a Unique Transaction Reference Number (UTRN). The UTRN links your return to your payment.8GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax Online and Paper Returns Paper returns are still accepted but take longer to process, and each paper form has a single pre-printed UTRN tied to one transaction.
Payment is electronic. CHAPS and Faster Payments arrive the same or next working day; Bacs transfers take up to three working days, so build that lead time into the 14-day window if you use Bacs.9GOV.UK. Pay Stamp Duty Land Tax
Once HMRC has the return and payment, it issues an SDLT5 certificate. The Land Registry will not register your ownership without it.8GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax Online and Paper Returns Online filings produce the SDLT5 immediately; paper filings mean waiting for HMRC to post it before registration can move ahead.
What Happens If You Miss the Deadline
Missing the 14-day deadline triggers automatic penalties that grow the longer the return is outstanding:
- Up to 3 months late: a fixed £100 penalty as soon as the deadline passes.10GOV.UK. Penalties for Late Land Transaction Return (SD7) Guide
- More than 3 months late: the fixed penalty rises to £200.
- More than 12 months late: HMRC may add a tax-based penalty calculated as a percentage of the unpaid tax, on top of the fixed penalties.
Those fixed penalties apply whatever the size of the bill. Interest is charged on any unpaid tax from the day after the deadline. As of January 2026, the late-payment interest rate is 7.75 percent per year, set at 4 percentage points above the Bank of England base rate of 3.75 percent.11GOV.UK. Rates and Allowances – HMRC Interest Rates for Late and Early Payments The rate moves with the base rate.