RISHI Sunak will promise to abolish stamp duty for first-time home buyers in an election manifesto.
Those who get on the property ladder will be able to avoid tax on all digs purchased for less than £425,000, the Telegraph reported.
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The move is expected to make it easier for 200,000 new families to get a place every year.
Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is a one-off payment that anyone buying a home above a certain price must pay.
His plan to reduce the tax comes ahead of the July 4 vote, with the prime minister also said to have decided not to reduce inheritance tax.
Sunak is making a play for young voters and building on their good faith in his promise to cut taxes.
The Prime Minister also promised to end the “war on drivers” by reversing the expansion of the daily Ulez charge for cars in London.
The full manifesto will be released next week and there is still time for policy changes.
The stamp duty cut is not the first time the Conservatives have targeted it.
Sunak’s policy makes permanent something that Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng temporarily introduced in their disastrous mini-budget.
They have increased the property price threshold for first-time buyers to avoid tax from £300,000 to £425,000.
But this aid was supposed to end in March 2025.
First-time buyers buying a home over £625,000 pay the full amount – 12 per cent, those buying between this and £425,000 pay five per cent.
Current stamp duty rates for non-first-time buyers are zero per cent up to £250,000, five per cent on the next £675,000, 10 per cent on the next £575,000 and 12 per cent on anything over £1 .5 million.
Previous Treasury estimates cost the policy £1 billion and experts say 94 per cent of first-time buyers pay £425,000 or less.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt had previously thrown down the challenge to shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves to commit to not increasing stamp duty.
The Prime Minister stressed in the first debate that a £38.5 billion black hole in the Labor Party’s spending plans would force them to raise taxes somewhere.
What is stamp duty?
STAMP property tax (SDLT) is a fixed payment that anyone purchasing property or land above a certain price must pay.
You pay tax when:
- Buy a freehold property
- Buy a new or existing lease
- Buying a property through a shared ownership scheme
- The land or property is transferred to you in exchange for payment, for example you take out a mortgage or buy a share in a house
The rate you pay depends on the price and type of property and certain limits:
The current limits are:
- £250,000 for residential properties
- £425,000 for first-time buyers purchasing a residential property worth £625,000 or less
- £150,000 for non-residential land and property
The SDLT rate you’ll have to pay is different depending on whether it’s residential, a second home or rental, or whether you’re a first-time buyer.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
