July sees £1.2 billion Collected in Stamp Duty

With the total tax paid on property purchases increasing each month along with the expected threshold set to be cut in 2025, more people are expected to be faced with Stamp Duty Land Tax. This has been seen in the amount of tax collected in July from Stamp Duty.

From April to July 2024, the total amount of tax take is up to £277.7 billion which exceeds last year’s amount by £5.6 billion. Out of this, July’s tax receipts have reached £82.5 billion with £1.18 billion paid for Stamp Duty alone. This is the most amount of taxes paid in one month since December of 2022 where the tax take for Stamp Duty was £1.42 billion.

The tax take is expected to see another increase when property buyers will be required to pay Stamp Duty Land Tax on any property purchased for over £125,000 starting March 2025. Furthermore, first-time buyers will have to pay Stamp Duty on property purchases over £300,000 which is a substantial drop from the current £425,000. This change is expected to increase the tax bill of an average priced home to as much as £5,268.

Experts’ Take on the Current Tax Trend

An expert, when asked about their thoughts on this year’s tax trend, said that homeowners are racking up debt while The Treasury is taking huge sums in property taxes. With the Stamp Duty bill being thousands of pounds, many people need to borrow more money to cover the tax on their new home.

They also added that the Chancellor ought to see the October Budget as a chance to announce some changes to stop the tax on average priced properties jumping overnight by as much as £2,500.

Another expert talked about the income tax trend saying that while the cost-of-living crisis is easing, the freeze on income tax thresholds is still taking a toll. As a result, more people are being pulled into paying taxes, and with the freeze continuing until at least 2028, even more will be affected.

One of the experts also took this opportunity to talk about the annual rises in Inheritance Tax, stating how as more estates start exceeding the nil-band rate, more assets in each liable estate will become taxable and the amount for IHT will also see an increase.

Conclusion

With the current tax trend having different affects on the taxes, many are looking forward to the October Budget. While some are hoping that the Chancellor sees the Budget as an opportunity the level the scales, some say that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will use this opportunity to fill the gap in public finances.