Today the Council of Mortgage Lenders have called for the government to reform the Stamp Duty taxes on property sales in the UK and we fully support them. Yesterday the Telegraph reported that we pay more Stamp Duty in this country than any other country in the world. Successive governments have seen it as an easy way of generating extra revenue with the worst offender being Gordon Brown who put the 1% rate up to £% for houses over £250,000 and 4% for houses over £1million. The coalition added a 5% band for houses over £1million and 7% for properties over £2million as a sop to the Liberal Democrats’ desire to tax the rich. The tax has some serious negative effects ion the market especially with the large jump to £% at £250,000 and it makes it nearly impossible to sell a house for £260,000 or £270,000 as buyers are reluctant to take the extra £5,000 hit. This leaves home owners of such properties nursing lossess of £10-£20,000 against the natural value of their homes. It is also a tax on mobility, preventing people from selling their homes to move around the country in search of better jobs, which is something the economy needs if it is to operate efficiently. So we support calls for reform. The biggest problem is the fact that the 3% is charged on ALL of the price of the home, much more sensible to charge 1% on the first £250,000, 3% on the extra over £250,000, 4% on the next portion over £1million and so on. By taking away the huge steps in the current system the market would not be so distorted and mobility would increase. http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Lenders-call-for-reform-of-badly-designed-Stamp-Duty
http://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/news_features/Lenders-call-for-reform-of-badly-designed-Stamp-Duty