Yahoo Finance Stamp duty calculator: how much will you pay?
Successive changes to stamp duty rules have made this one of Britain's most complicated taxes. Today's Budget announcement of an exemption for first-time buyers introduces another factor.
The rates were overhauled first in 2014 – moving it from a "slab" to a "tiered" system. So instead of one rate being applied to the entire purchase value, a number of rates were applied at successive thresholds.
This had the effect of increasing the duty paid on more valuable properties, and reducing it for those toward the bottom.
The next significant change came in April 2016.
This saw the introduction of a three percentage point surcharge on additional home purchases. This was aimed at cooling the buy-to-let market by applying higher rates of duty to those buying investment properties or holiday homes in addition to their main home.
The "additional" rate of stamp duty does not apply where the investment property is being bought via a company structure.
Changes introduced today by the Chancellor mean that first-time buyers whose property is worth less than £300,000 will pay no stamp duty. Where properties are more expensive, the first £300,000 will be free of duty provided the property's total price is £500,000 or less.
Use this calculator to work out how these changes affect how much you'll pay. Click the tick-box at the top, right if you are a first-time buyer.
