Budget March 2010 - Stamp Duty Land Tax

One of the give-aways of this Budget is relief from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) due on buying residential properties that cost up to £250,000, where the property transaction is completed between 25 March 2010 and 25 March 2012. The issue is that this zero rate only applies to first-time buyers, and the relief will have to be claimed by those individuals, it will not be given automatically.

To help fund this tax relief an additional rate of SDLT is to be introduced at 5% on properties costing £1 million or more from 6 April 2011. So if you are planning to buy that million pound home, get on with it!