Great news today from George Osbourne who has revised the dreadful stamp duty thresholds brought in by none other than Gordon Brown. The new rules mean that the percentage stamp duty does not apply to the whole sum as in the old system, but is progressive, so avoiding the huge jumps in stamp duty that used to occur at the £250,000 and £500,000 marks. The new levels are:
– Nothing up to £125,000.
– 2% on the additional sum from £125,001 up to £250,000. (So if the house is £250,000, you pay 2% of £125,000 – £2,500)
– 5% on the additional sum from £250,001 to £925,000. (So if the house is £350,000 you pay the £2,500 above plus 5% of the extra £100,000, which is £5,000. Add the two together and you pay £7,500 in total.)
– 10% on the extra sum from £925,001 to £1.5 million.
– 12 % on the extra sum over £1.5 million.
Not only does this prevent the ridiculous distortions of the market seen under the old scheme, it reduces the take for houses under £1 million and shots Labour’s fox with the ridiculous mansion Tax. All in all a very positive step.
More details on the BBC website here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30291460