WHAT IS STAMP DUTY?
SDLT replaced Stamp Duty in December 2003 and is a tax on the purchase price of land and buildings. When you buy a property or take on a lease you may have to pay SDLT.

PAYING SDLT
If you buy either a freehold or a leasehold property and the purchase price is more than £125,000, you pay SDLT of between one and four per cent of the whole purchase price.
If the purchase price is £125,000 or less you don’t pay any SDLT.
The £125,000 threshold for when you start to pay SDLT was introduced again on 1 January 2010. The previous starting rate was £175,000 - for purchases made between 3 September 2008 and 31 December 2009.

FIRST TIME BUYERS
If you are a first-time buyer the threshold for when you start to pay SDLT is £250,000. This is only if you have never owned a house or flat in the UK or anywhere else in the world. If you are buying with someone else they must never have owned property before either. This higher threshold applies to purchases made on or after 25 March 2010 and before 25 March 2012

BREAKDOWN OF RATES
Purchase Price of Property / Rate of SDLT (percentage of the total purchase price)      
£0 – £125,000: 0%
£125,001 - £250,000: 1% 
£250,001 - £500,000: 3% 
£500,001 or more: 4%
Purchase Price of Property / Purchase Rate of SDLT - first-time buyers (percentage of the total purchase price)
£0 – £125,000: 0%
£125,001 - £250,000: 0% 
£250,001 - £500,000: 3% 
£500,001 or more: 4%

MORE INFORMATION
For more information please call our office or visit the below website: 
www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/Taxes/TaxOnPropertyAndRentalIncome/DG_4015918