HMRC tax receipts statistics released this week have shown that the chancellor’s reform of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) regime is already having an impact on tax receipts, says chartered accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg LLP. The firm has highlighted figures showing that following the changes, SDLT receipts in January 2015 were down £299m month on month, and down £126m compared to a year earlier.
Robert Pullen, a personal tax manager at the firm, says: ‘In the Autumn Statement on 3 December 2014, the chancellor announced that from 4 December 2014 the amount of SDLT charged on a transaction was to be calculated on a progressive basis, rather than a “cliff-edge” system. A person buying a house for £300,000 on 3 December would pay SDLT of £9,000, whilst someone buying the same house at the same price on 4 December would pay SDLT of £5,000, a saving of £4,000.
‘Of course not all people have been made better off by these changes, with those purchasing houses over £937,500 being worse off, so for those people, this could instead be considered the first pre-election tax increase and was definitely not a tax break.’
HMRC tax receipts statistics released this week have shown that the chancellor’s reform of the stamp duty land tax (SDLT) regime is already having an impact on tax receipts, says chartered accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg LLP. The firm has highlighted figures showing that following the changes, SDLT receipts in January 2015 were down £299m month on month, and down £126m compared to a year earlier.
Robert Pullen, a personal tax manager at the firm, says: ‘In the Autumn Statement on 3 December 2014, the chancellor announced that from 4 December 2014 the amount of SDLT charged on a transaction was to be calculated on a progressive basis, rather than a “cliff-edge” system. A person buying a house for £300,000 on 3 December would pay SDLT of £9,000, whilst someone buying the same house at the same price on 4 December would pay SDLT of £5,000, a saving of £4,000.
‘Of course not all people have been made better off by these changes, with those purchasing houses over £937,500 being worse off, so for those people, this could instead be considered the first pre-election tax increase and was definitely not a tax break.’
.jpg?sfvrsn=335a554c_0 "300 x 250 (MPU)")