Stamp duty applies when you buy a home or land, take on a newly granted lease, or transfer shares in a UK company, and the amount you owe depends on the price, the type of asset, and where the property is located. In England and Northern Ireland, Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is charged on residential purchases above £125,000, with separate rules for commercial land, leases, and share transactions.1GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax: Residential Property Rates Scotland and Wales run their own systems with different thresholds.
Buying a Home in England or Northern Ireland
SDLT is triggered when you acquire a “chargeable interest” in land or buildings. That covers buying a freehold, taking over an existing leasehold, or buying vacant land, even if nothing is built on it yet. The tax is tiered: you pay each rate only on the slice of the price that falls within its band.
- 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%
The chargeable amount is the full price plus any other value you exchange, such as taking on the seller’s outstanding mortgage. A property that changes hands for £125,000 or less carries no SDLT.1GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax: Residential Property Rates
First-Time Buyer Relief
If you have never owned a property before, the nil-rate band rises to £300,000, and the portion between £300,001 and £500,000 is taxed at 5%. The relief only works if the total price is £500,000 or less. Go a pound over and the standard rates apply to the whole purchase. Every buyer named on the transaction must qualify: if you buy jointly with someone who has owned property before, the relief is lost.1GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax: Residential Property Rates
Second Homes and Buy-to-Let
If you already own residential property and buy another, a 5% surcharge is added to every band. The surcharge took effect on 31 October 2024, replacing the earlier 3% rate that had run since April 2016.2GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax Rates: 31 October 2024 to 31 March 2025 The rates for additional properties from 1 April 2025 are:
- 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%
Because the surcharge starts at the first pound, even a cheap second property produces a bill.3GOV.UK. Higher Rates of Stamp Duty Land Tax
Scotland and Wales
SDLT stops at the border. Scotland replaced it with Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) in April 2015, run by Revenue Scotland.4Revenue Scotland. Land and Buildings Transaction Tax Wales introduced Land Transaction Tax (LTT) in April 2018, collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority.5GOV.WALES. Land Transaction Tax: Overview Rates and thresholds differ in each system, and the tax follows the property, not the buyer, so a purchase in Edinburgh or Cardiff falls outside the SDLT rules regardless of where you live.
Non-Residential and Mixed-Use Property
Different rates apply if you buy commercial premises, agricultural land, or property that combines residential and business use. The nil-rate band runs to £150,000.6GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax: Rates for Non-Residential and Mixed-Use Property
- Up to £150,000: 0%
- £150,001 to £250,000: 2%
- Above £250,000: 5%
Buying six or more dwellings in a single transaction can also be treated as non-residential, which sometimes produces a smaller bill than the standard residential bands.
New Leases
When a new lease is granted rather than assigned, SDLT can arise on two separate elements. Any premium (a lump sum paid to the landlord) is taxed using the same bands as a purchase. The rent is taxed on its net present value (NPV) over the life of the lease, a calculation set out in Schedule 5 of the Finance Act 2003 that discounts future payments.7Legislation.gov.uk. Finance Act 2003 – Schedule 5 – Net Present Value of Rent Payable Over Term of Lease
For non-residential and mixed-use leases, rent-element SDLT is 1% on NPV between £150,001 and £5 million, and 2% above £5 million.6GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax: Rates for Non-Residential and Mixed-Use Property Residential leases carry a £125,000 NPV threshold with a 1% rate above it. Most short residential tenancies fall well under that figure and attract nothing on the rent.
Buying Shares and Securities
Stamp duty also applies to transfers of stocks and shares in UK companies, and there are two parallel systems.
Paper stock transfer forms attract stamp duty at 0.5% of the price paid, rounded up to the nearest £5. You do not need to pay or send the form to HMRC if the consideration is £1,000 or less and the deal is not part of a larger series above that limit.8GOV.UK. Completing a Stock Transfer Form Without a properly stamped form, a company registrar can refuse to record you as the new owner.
Electronic trades settled through CREST are hit with Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) at the same 0.5% rate, rounded to the nearest penny, deducted and paid to HMRC automatically at the point of trade.9GOV.UK. Pay Stamp Duty Reserve Tax The £1,000 exemption does not carry over: SDRT is collected regardless of the size of the transaction.
Exemptions and Reliefs
Some transactions carry no SDLT at all, and a few need no return either:
- Transfers where no money or other consideration changes hands, such as a genuine outright gift.
- Property transferred between spouses or civil partners as part of a divorce or dissolution.
- Charities buying property for charitable purposes can claim relief.
Other reliefs reduce rather than remove the bill, including multiple-dwellings relief for bulk residential purchases and reliefs tied to certain corporate reorganisations. Each has its own conditions to meet.10GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax: Reliefs and Exemptions
When to File and Pay
An SDLT return and any tax owed are due within 14 days of the “effective date” of the transaction. That is usually the completion date, when the purchase finalises and you get the keys. If you move in or pay most of the price earlier, the effective date shifts to that earlier point.11GOV.UK. Stamp Duty Land Tax Online and Paper Returns
You still need to file a return when the price sits inside the nil-rate band and no tax is owed, unless the transaction is one of the specific types that requires no return at all. Solicitors and conveyancers normally submit the return as part of completion, but the legal responsibility for filing and paying on time is yours. Late returns bring penalties and interest.