The rising cost of stamp duty on real estate transactions means buying a home now usually comes with a big tax bill.
To help you prepare for those extra costs, Telegraph Money has developed a calculator you can use to find out how much you’ll have to pay under current rates.
It comes after a lot of tinkering with stamp duty rates over the past three years. A tax break propelled the pandemic real estate market for 14 months, and last year drastic cuts were made to the ill-fated mini-budget.
Home buyers are currently benefiting from a reduced stamp duty, with a third of buyers in England enjoying no tax at all on their property purchases. But the break doesn’t last forever.
Here Telegraph Money details which rates currently apply, when they will change and why.
How much is the stamp duty now?
In last year’s mini-budget, then-Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng doubled the zero-rate band from £125,000 to £250,000 in England and Northern Ireland. The move saved the average buyer £2,500 in house purchase tax and meant an extra £200,000 would pay no stamp duty at all.
The other tax brackets remain unchanged, so you pay stamp duty at a rate of 5%. on the value of a property above £250,000 to £925,000, 10 pc. on the value between £925,000 and £1.5 million, and then a top rate of 12 pieces above £1.5 million.
