What is Stamp Duty Land Tax?
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.
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. See the table below for more detail.
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.
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%
You can check current rates of SDLT on the HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) website.
