# Stamp Duty Land Tax

url: https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/stamp-duty/
updated: 29 September 2026
licence: Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Figures: each source's own licence, listed under Sources.
publisher: [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk)

# Stamp Duty Land Tax



Last updated 29 September 2026.
Figures refresh every night. [How each figure is worked out](/methodology/).





**A tax on buying property, charged in slices of the purchase price, with different systems in Scotland and Wales.** The buyer, on completion. Sellers pay nothing. It raised **£15.2bn** in 2025–26, which is 1.6% of everything HMRC collects and 0.49% of the economy. That is up £1.3bn (9.2%) on the year before.



Figures for the 2025–26 financial year. Source:
[HM Revenue and Customs](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk).





## Key figures



- £15.2bnRaised in 2025–26

▲
- 1.6%Of everything HMRC collects

▬
2025–26
- 0.49%Of the whole economy (GDP)

▲
2025–26
- -12.9%In real terms, against the 2022–23 peak

Adjusted for inflation with the GDP deflator
As of 6 April 2025
- £125,000Starting threshold, England and NI

First-time buyers: £300,000




Sources: [HM Revenue and Customs](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk), [HM Treasury](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp).





## What is the short version?



- **How big:** £15.2bn in 2025–26, 1.6% of everything HMRC collects; after inflation, 2% more than in 2015–16.
- **Buying a £400,000 home in England:** Payable in cash on the day, on top of the deposit. As a second home it would be £30,000 instead, because the 5% surcharge applies to the whole price.
- **Latest change, 2025:** Thresholds revert to lower levels, raising bills for most buyers.
- **Where it goes:** Nowhere in particular, like almost every tax: it is not earmarked.
- **The argument:** Cheap to collect: no transaction completes without it; against that, it taxes moving, so it locks people into homes that no longer suit them.






## How much does it raise?




**Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts, cash and real terms**










**The numbers behind this chart**





| Financial year | Cash | Real, 2025-26 prices |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2006–07Details | £9,635m | £15,772m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£15,772m | | |
| 2007–08Details | £9,958m | £15,987m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£15,987m | | |
| 2008–09Details | £4,796m | £7,423m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£7,423m | | |
| 2009–10Details | £4,886m | £7,466m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£7,466m | | |
| 2010–11Details | £5,961m | £8,956m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£8,956m | | |
| 2011–12Details | £6,125m | £9,010m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£9,010m | | |
| 2012–13Details | £6,907m | £9,988m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£9,988m | | |
| 2013–14Details | £9,273m | £13,136m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£13,136m | | |
| 2014–15Details | £10,738m | £14,999m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£14,999m | | |
| 2015–16Details | £10,682m | £14,818m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£14,818m | | |
| 2016–17Details | £11,766m | £16,001m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£16,001m | | |
| 2017–18Details | £12,906m | £17,331m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£17,331m | | |
| 2018–19Details | £11,942m | £15,679m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£15,679m | | |
| 2019–20Details | £11,601m | £14,840m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£14,840m | | |
| 2020–21Details | £8,668m | £10,538m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£10,538m | | |
| 2021–22Details | £14,098m | £17,098m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£17,098m | | |
| 2022–23Details | £15,359m | £17,404m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£17,404m | | |
| 2023–24Details | £11,614m | £12,502m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£12,502m | | |
| 2024–25Details | £13,883m | £14,361m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£14,361m | | |
| 2025–26Details | £15,159m | £15,159m |
| Real, 2025-26 prices£15,159m | | |






Figures for the 2025–26 financial year. Source:
[HM Revenue and Customs](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk), [HM Treasury](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp).






**Stamp Duty Land Tax as a share of the economy, 1700–01 to 2022–23**










**The numbers behind this chart**



Search




| Financial year | % of GDP |
| --- | --- |
| 1700–01 | 0.114% |
| 1709–10 | 0.123% |
| 1718–19 | 0.158% |
| 1727–28 | 0.183% |
| 1736–37 | 0.157% |
| 1745–46 | 0.149% |
| 1754–55 | 0.137% |
| 1763–64 | 0.247% |
| 1772–73 | 0.248% |
| 1781–82 | 0.362% |
| 1790–91 | 0.725% |
| 1799–00 | 0.666% |
| 1808–09 | 1.245% |
| 1817–18 | 1.426% |
| 1826–27 | 1.417% |
| 1835–36 | 1.304% |
| 1844–45 | 1.223% |
| 1853–54 | 0.962% |
| 1862–63 | 0.99% |
| 1871–72 | 0.309% |
| 1880–81 | 0.333% |
| 1889–90 | 0.333% |
| 1898–99 | 0.418% |
| 1907–08 | 0.387% |
| 1916–17 | 0.221% |
| 1925–26 | 0.565% |
| 1934–35 | 0.539% |
| 1943–44 | 0.179% |
| 1952–53 | 0.341% |
| 1961–62 | 0.345% |
| 1970–71 | 0.204% |
| 1979–80 | 0.267% |
| 1988–89 | 0.395% |
| 1997–98 | 0.358% |
| 2006–07 | 0.9% |
| 2015–16 | 0.753% |
| 2022–23 | 0.81% |











Figures for the 2022–23 financial year. Source:
[Office for Budget Responsibility](https://obr.uk/data/).





**How "real terms" is worked out**



Real terms use HM Treasury's GDP deflator, rebased to 2025-26 prices. That is the
measure the Treasury and the OBR use for public finances; the consumer price index is the
right one for a shopping basket, not for the size of the state.






## How does it work?



Stamp duty is charged in slices, like income tax. You pay nothing on the first slice, then a rate on the next, and so on. Before 2014 it was a slab tax where crossing a threshold by a pound re-rated the whole price, which created absurd dead zones just above each threshold; slicing fixed that.

First-time buyers get a higher starting threshold, but only up to a price ceiling. Buy for a pound over that ceiling and the relief disappears entirely, which recreates a cliff edge at exactly the point first-time buyers in expensive areas are buying.

Buying an additional property, a second home or a buy-to-let, adds a surcharge on the whole price, not just the top slice. Non-residents pay a further surcharge on top of that.

The bands for a home in England and Northern Ireland, 2026-27. Each rate applies only to the slice of the price inside its band:





| Part of the price | Rate |
| --- | --- |
| £0 to £125,000 | 0% |
| £125,000 to £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,000 to £925,000 | 5% |
| £925,000 to £1,500,000 | 10% |
| Over £1,500,000 | 12% |
| First-time buyers, price up to £500,000 | 0% to £300,000, then 5% |
| Additional homes and buy-to-let | +5 points on every band |
| Buyers not resident in the UK | +2 points on every band |





Rates: [GOV.UK, Stamp Duty Land Tax rates](https://www.gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax/residential-property-rates).
Checked by hand 22 September 2026.

Because the tax is paid in cash on completion and cannot be added to a mortgage, it lands precisely when buyers have least money. That is the main reason economists dislike it more than almost any other UK tax.



### What does this mean for you?



Put in a price to see the stamp duty on a home in England and Northern Ireland, for a buyer who already owns or has owned a home.


Price of the home
£



On £300,000 the stamp duty is **£5,000**, 1.7% of the price, paid on top of it and usually from savings rather than the mortgage.



2026-27 rates, main home, not a first-time buyer, UK resident. A second home or buy-to-let adds 5 percentage points to every band; Scotland and Wales have their own taxes.






### Buying a £400,000 home in England





| Step | Amount | Note |
| --- | --- | --- |
| First £125,000Details | £0 | 0% |
| Note0% | | |
| Next £125,000Details | £2,500 | 2% on the portion to £250,000 |
| Note2% on the portion to £250,000 | | |
| Remaining £150,000Details | £7,500 | 5% on the portion above £250,000 |
| Note5% on the portion above £250,000 | | |
| Stamp duty dueDetails | £10,000 | |
| | | |
| As a first-time buyerDetails | £5,000 | nothing to £300,000, then 5% |
| Notenothing to £300,000, then 5% | | |





**Payable in cash on the day, on top of the deposit. As a second home it would be £30,000 instead, because the 5% surcharge applies to the whole price.**




[Work out the stamp duty on a purchase](https://howlongisit.co.uk/stamp-duty-calculator)





## How has it changed?





How it got here, and why each change was made:



- **1694**Stamp duty begins as a charge for physically stamping legal documents, to fund war with France.
- **2003**Stamp Duty Land Tax replaces the old document duty with a tax on the transaction itself.
- **2014**The slab system is replaced by slices, ending the distortion where a pound over a threshold cost thousands.
- **2015**Scotland replaces it with Land and Buildings Transaction Tax.
- **2016**A surcharge on additional properties is introduced to cool the buy-to-let market.
- **2018**Wales replaces it with Land Transaction Tax.
- **2020**A holiday during the pandemic lifts the threshold to £500,000. Transactions spike before the deadline and slump after it, a clear demonstration of how sharply the tax moves timing.
- **2025**Thresholds revert to lower levels, raising bills for most buyers.






## Where does the money go?



**Nowhere in particular.** Stamp duty is not earmarked. It goes into the Consolidated Fund with almost every other tax and is spent on whatever the government of the day decides. Anyone who tells you a particular tax "pays for" a particular service is describing an illustration, not a rule.



Because it is not earmarked, the only honest way to show what it pays for is by proportion. If
stamp duty land tax receipts of £15.2bn were spent in the same proportions as all
public spending in 2025-26, they would break down like this. It is an illustration of scale,
not a statement about where those particular pounds went.




**If £15.2bn of stamp duty land tax were spent like all public money in 2025-26**



- 1. Social protection, including the state pension

£5.0bn 33.2% of spending
- 2. Health

£3.2bn 21% of spending
- 3. Debt interest

£1.6bn 10.6% of spending
- 4. Education

£1.5bn 10.2% of spending
- 5. Economic affairs, including transport

£1.2bn 7.7% of spending
- 6. Defence

£803m 5.3% of spending
- 7. Public order and safety

£682m 4.5% of spending
- 8. General public services

£440m 2.9% of spending
- 9. Housing and community

£273m 1.8% of spending
- 10. Environment

£243m 1.6% of spending
- 11. Culture, media and sport

£182m 1.2% of spending





Spending shares from HM Treasury’s Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses. An illustration of scale, not where these particular pounds went.




**Show as a table**





| Name | Equivalent share of stamp duty land tax |
| --- | --- |
| 1. Social protection, including the state pension | £5.0bn |
| 2. Health | £3.2bn |
| 3. Debt interest | £1.6bn |
| 4. Education | £1.5bn |
| 5. Economic affairs, including transport | £1.2bn |
| 6. Defence | £803m |
| 7. Public order and safety | £682m |
| 8. General public services | £440m |
| 9. Housing and community | £273m |
| 10. Environment | £243m |
| 11. Culture, media and sport | £182m |








See [for every £100 of tax](/for-every-100-pounds-of-tax/) for the full picture.





## Is it different where I live?




### Scotland



Land and Buildings Transaction Tax has applied since April 2015. It has more bands than SDLT and a different starting threshold, and its additional dwelling supplement is higher than the English surcharge.

### Wales



Land Transaction Tax has applied since April 2018. Wales has no first-time buyer relief; instead its zero-rate threshold is higher for everyone, which achieves something similar without the cliff edge.





## Does it change what people do?



Stamp duty has one of the best-evidenced behavioural effects of any UK tax: it reduces the number of house moves. It discourages downsizing by older owners, discourages moving for work, and bunches transactions just below thresholds. The 2020 holiday produced an unusually clean natural experiment, with transactions surging before the deadline and collapsing after it.



[When a tax rise stops raising money](/when-tax-rises-lose-revenue/) looks at the
cases where the effect has been large enough to move the revenue.





## How does that compare with other countries?



**In 2024 the UK raised 3.7% of GDP this way: first of the 12 countries compared here.**




**Revenue from this heading as a share of GDP, 2024**



- ◆1. United Kingdom

3.7%
- 2. France

3.4%
- 3. Canada

3.4%
- 4. United States

2.9%
- 5. Japan

2.7%
- 6. Italy

2.3%
- 7. Spain

2.2%
- 8. Denmark

1.4%
- 9. Netherlands

1.2%
- 10. Ireland

0.9%
- 11. Germany

0.9%
- 12. Sweden

0.8%




◆ UK





**Show as a table**





| Name | Share of GDP |
| --- | --- |
| 1. United Kingdom (UK) | 3.7% |
| 2. France | 3.4% |
| 3. Canada | 3.4% |
| 4. United States | 2.9% |
| 5. Japan | 2.7% |
| 6. Italy | 2.3% |
| 7. Spain | 2.2% |
| 8. Denmark | 1.4% |
| 9. Netherlands | 1.2% |
| 10. Ireland | 0.9% |
| 11. Germany | 0.9% |
| 12. Sweden | 0.8% |






Figure as of 1 January 2024. Source:
[OECD](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_REV_COMP_OECD%40DF_RSOECD).




Most countries tax property transactions, but many economists argue a recurring tax on property value does the same job with far less damage, because it does not penalise moving. That argument is close to a consensus among tax economists and has gone nowhere politically.




**What is being compared**



The OECD heading is all taxes on property, which includes transaction taxes like stamp duty as well as recurrent ones.



Countries are those this site compares throughout, not the whole OECD, and a country appears only
where it reports this heading for 2024.






## What are the arguments?





### The case for stamp duty



- Cheap to collect: no transaction completes without it.
- Progressive by price, so expensive properties pay much more.
- Surcharges give a lever to cool speculative and second-home demand.
- Raises substantial revenue from a small number of transactions.





### The case against



- It taxes moving, so it locks people into homes that no longer suit them.
- Payable in cash exactly when buyers are most stretched.
- Receipts swing violently with the housing market, making them unreliable.
- The first-time buyer ceiling creates a cliff edge in precisely the most expensive areas.






Both columns are set out as their strongest case, not as a preferred answer and a strawman. See
[how this site handles contested questions](/neutrality/).





## Common questions


How much stamp duty will I pay on a house?
A tax on buying property, charged in slices of the purchase price, with different systems in Scotland and Wales. The buyer, on completion. Sellers pay nothing.How much does stamp duty land tax raise?
£15.2bn in 2025–26, which is 1.6% of everything HMRC collects.Where does stamp duty land tax go?
Nowhere in particular. Stamp duty is not earmarked. It goes into the Consolidated Fund with almost every other tax and is spent on whatever the government of the day decides. Anyone who tells you a particular tax "pays for" a particular service is describing an illustration, not a rule.





## Use this data



The figures belong to the bodies that published them and are used under their terms, listed in
[Sources for this page](#sources); most are Crown copyright under the Open Government Licence.
Only our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations are ours, published under
[CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): reuse them, including
commercially, if you credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk) and link back to this page.



### Download



- [Stamp Duty Land Tax receipts by financial year (CSV)](/data/receipts-stamp-duty-land-tax.csv)
[JSON](/data/receipts-stamp-duty-land-tax.json) HM Revenue and Customs: [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)
- [Public sector receipts as a share of GDP since 1900 (CSV)](/data/obr-total-receipts-share-gdp.csv)
[JSON](/data/obr-total-receipts-share-gdp.json) Office for Budget Responsibility: [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)
- [Total HMRC receipts by financial year (CSV)](/data/receipts-total.csv)
[JSON](/data/receipts-total.json) HM Revenue and Customs: [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/)

- [All data, field definitions and licences](/data/)




### Embed the live figure



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## Sources for this page





| Source | Publisher | Figures as of | Updated | Licence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [HMRC tax receipts and National Insurance contributions for the UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk) | HM Revenue and Customs | the 2025–26 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) |
| [Historical public finances database](https://obr.uk/data/) | Office for Budget Responsibility | the 2022–23 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) |
| [GDP deflators at market prices, and money GDP](https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp) | HM Treasury | the 2025–26 financial year | annual | [Open Government Licence v3.0](https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/) |
| [Revenue Statistics: comparative tables](https://data-explorer.oecd.org/vis?df[ds]=dsDisseminateFinalDMZ&df[id]=DSD_REV_COMP_OECD%40DF_RSOECD) | OECD | 1 January 2024 | annual | [CC BY 4.0 (OECD)](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html) |





Each source's figures are used under the licence shown. Our own words, analysis, charts and derived calculations
are ours, under [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

## Related pages

- [Next in this section: Capital gains tax](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/capital-gains-tax/)
- [How much is council tax and what does it pay for?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/council-tax/)
- [How much are probate, court, Land Registry and planning fees?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/probate-court-land-registry-and-planning-fees/)
- [Which is my council, and how do all the councils compare?](https://whereyourmoneygoes.co.uk/councils/)

## More from this publisher

- [UK tax calculators](https://howlongisit.co.uk)

Published by [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). Our words, analysis, charts and derived calculations: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), credit [Tekstak Ltd](https://tek-stak.co.uk). The figures belong to the publishers listed under Sources and are used under their licences. Figures last updated 29 September 2026.