Stamp Duty: People Cannot Afford When Buying Property

Stamp Duty: People cannot stamp duty afford when buying property according to Stroud and Swindon Building Society.  Stroud and Swindon say nearly than half of people planning to buy a property have no idea how they will raise the cash for the stamp duty land tax.  A quarter of people said they would use savings and 24 percent would add the cost onto the mortgage.  

Research shows that stamp duty tax is the fourth most hated tax in the UK, Paul Chafer, commercial Director for Stroud and Swindon believes the government must do something to address this.  

He also added that they have long argued that stamp duty should be treated as a proportional tax, similar to income tax.  This would involve introducing a tiered interest rate where consumers are only taxed on the proportion of their property value that exceeds the stamp duty threshold.  

Our view

What utter ‘codswallop’.  Those who can afford larger properties already pay higher stamp duty.  Why should those who earn more, but choose to live in a smaller house pay a higher rate of stamp duty, just because of their income?

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