Government deferring Stamp Duty?
Over the last week, there have been talks of stamp duty payments being deferred to try and help boost the confidence of homebuyers and to try and “stamp out” the current credit crunch. But will this really help?
Currently, stamp duty is paid on the basis of:
- 1% stamp duty to be paid on properties being sold between £125,000 and £250,000
- 3% stamp duty to be paid on properties over £250,000
- 4% stamp duty to be paid on properties over £500,000
Alistair Darling has said that they are “looking into a number of measures” however they have not concluded exactly what is to be done. It is believed that a temporary deferral will allow the buyer more time to come up with the funds and prevent the government from losing out on their revenue. Last year they earned £6.5 billion from stamp duty.
But with rising fuel and shopping bills to add to the equation of mortgage lenders’ unease at lending, will a stamp duty deferral really be enough? Could we look back at the tactics used in 1991 and temporarily suspend stamp duty for homes under £250,000?
Surely the government would prefer to lose a few ‘bob’ earned through stamp duty than even more people on benefits due to unemployment…
Post your thoughts and comments on what could be done to help the market…
This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 3:21 pm and is filed under Finance, General Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
MIRAS springs to mind as well as abolishing stamp duty for all properties up to £200,000. Give purchasers trying to get onto the housing ladder a break! Anyone who owns a home also knows that repairs and maintenance need to be done regularly to keep the property in good condition. At the rate we’re going, we’ll not be able to afford to keep our properties looking good.
Alistair Darling - join the real world and see what’s truly happening!