Stamp duty is the second most unpopular tax in the UK, after inheritance tax, and sees the average buyer in England pay £2,300 in duty when they purchase a property.
A new Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) report pushes for a Conservative pledge to reform stamp duty at the next election, branding it a “tax on mobility and aspiration”.
The report suggests the levy is either abolished or reduced under a new system that would charge 4 per cent of a property value above £500,000 and 5 per cent on value above £1 million.
Writing in the The Telegraph, Robert Colville, Director of the CPS, said the tax is “so eye-watering that [stamp duty rates] are not just punishing people for moving home, but actively deterring it”.
“As well as getting the Brexit deal through, the Government needs to show people how their lives will be better afterwards,” he said.
“Slashing one of the most hated and least effective taxes in the country would be the ideal starting point – and at a bargain price.”
Click here to read the full Telegraph article
Date Added: Saturday 26th October 2019
