There are a few factors to take into consideration when calculating how much you’re obliged to pay for stamp duty.
Such as, where in the UK you’re purchasing your property, how much your property is worth, whether you’re purchasing a main home or additional estate and if you’re a first-time buyer or not.
Figuring out the costs of stamp duty can be difficult for some, particularly when you only own part of the property. This article from the guardian may be able to help clear some things up.
Calculating the Costs:
If you are purchasing a £350,000 property in Northern Ireland or England and you aren’t a first-time buyer, thus meaning you’re not eligible for tax relief, then you would be charged zero percent on £250,000 of the property. As for the remaining £100,000 of the property, you would be obliged to pay a rate of five per cent in stamp duty. Overall, you would be paying £5,000 in tax.
Now if you’re purchasing a £250,000 home in Scotland and you don’t qualify as a first-time buyer, then for the first £145,000 of the estate you would be charged zero per cent for stamp duty. Then for the remaining £105,000 of the property, you would be charged a rate of two per cent, which, overall, would be £2,100.
When purchasing a £250,000 estate in Wales your stamp duty rate would be zero percent for the first £180,000 of the estate. But you would be charged three point five per cent in stamp duty on the leftover £70,000 of the property, meaning overall you would be paying £2,450.
Stamp Duty can be a difficult issue that most property owners have to deal with; looking into easy to understand conveyancing news and information can be beneficial for many. Companies such as https://www.samconveyancing.co.uk/news/conveyancing may be able to help.
First-Time Buyers:
Now if you’re a first-time buyer, you may be eligible for tax relief.
If you are a first-time buyer in England and Northern Ireland, there’s no stamp duty on the first £425,000 of the estate. After that, you will be charged five per cent in stamp duty – possibly more, depending on the value of your property.
In Scotland, first-time buyers pay stamp duty on the first £175,000 of a property. After that, it’s two per cent up until you reach the threshold of £250,000.
There isn’t any land tax relief in Wales for first-time buyers, meaning you will pay the same land tax as those who aren’t first-time buyers.
But as there is a tax-free threshold of £180,000, a lot of first-time buyers may not have to pay any stamp duty tax when purchasing their first property.