Stamp Duty Land Tax Calculator

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a tax that's paid in England and Northern Ireland when you buy property or land over a certain value. This tool will calculate how much you need to pay based on the purchase price and your circumstances.

Please select whether this is a move, first home purchase, additional property or land purchase. If applicable you can add non UK resident VAT which will update the results and show detailed information on the rates of tax.

What is stamp duty land tax?

SDLT is a tax levied on the purchase of property and land in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland has Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), while Wales has Land Transaction Tax (LTT). The figures shown here therefore do not apply to those regions.

The amount to be paid depends on the price, when it was bought, whether certain tax reliefs apply and if VAT is due. The declaration will usually be made by a solicitor or estate agent on behalf of the buyer and submitted to HMRC.

This is how SDLT will be calculated.

SDLT is not a single fixed rate of tax but is charged in bands. The price is split into several tax bands and each band is only taxed at the appropriate rate. So you do not pay the higher rate on the whole amount even if your price just exceeds a particular threshold.

For example, a house costing £295,000. The buyer moves into it as their main home. They will pay no tax on the first £125,000, 2 per cent on the next £125,001 to £250,000 and five per cent on the remaining £45,000.

So the tax would be £4,750 - which equates to an effective rate of about 1.6% on the house price. The standard bands for residential property are as follows when applied to a single home:

Facilities for first-time buyers

If you and all the people with whom you are buying the property are first-time buyers then no SDLT is payable on the first £300,000 and 5% only applies to the amount between £300,001 and £500,000. So a first-time buyer purchasing a property for £500,000 would pay £10,000 in SDLT.

There is a clear price cap on these reliefs - if the property costs more than £500,000 then no relief will be available and buyers will pay the standard rate of tax on the full amount. The calculator automatically switches to the standard rate when the cost exceeds £500,000.

Second homes and additional properties

If this purchase results in the ownership of more than one property then a surcharge of 5% is added to the standard rates for each band, including those up to £125,000. This higher rate applies to second homes and buy-to-let properties.

A stamp duty surcharge is charged if the property price reaches £40,000. This 5% surcharge does not apply if the new home replaces your main residence and the old house is sold within 36 months of completing the purchase.

VAT for non UK residents

If you spend less than 183 days in the UK (the qualifying period is the months prior to purchase: 12), then under the SDLT rules, you are considered a non-UK resident. When purchasing property in England and Northern Ireland, you will be charged an additional 2% surcharge on top of the standard rates.

This amount can be added if you tick the "Non-resident" option. As this tax is levied on top of the first-time buyer rate or additional property rates, non-residents will have to pay an extra 2% on top of the higher rate when buying a second home.

Non-residential and mixed-use properties

For non-residential and mixed-use properties such as commercial or business premises with residential units, there are different tax bands. There is no tax for values up to £150,000, while the excess over that amount is charged at a rate of 2%. The upper band threshold is £250,000 and anything above this will be charged at a rate of 5%.

As the additional property stamp duty and non-resident stamp duty do not apply to the purchase of non-residential properties, this calculator will exclude these when selecting this transaction type.

Important notes before purchasing

Before you close the deal, check how close the stated price is to a particular value. A slight change in the price can cause certain amounts to fall into a higher tax bracket. Have cash on hand to pay taxes. Generally, there are no payment plans and the taxes must be paid within 14 days of closing the deal.

If you are buying a property with other people in mind, remember that all parties involved must be first-time buyers to benefit from the relevant incentives. If you want to avoid paying stamp duty on additional properties, keep proof of when your previous main residence was sold.

This tool is a general guide to stamp duty land tax (SDLT) in England and Northern Ireland, it does not constitute tax or legal advice. Tax rates and allowances are subject to change and whether certain reliefs can be claimed depends on the individual circumstances. Please have your calculations checked by HMRC or a qualified adviser before completing any transaction.