Stamp Duty In Wales To Be Scrapped For New Land Tax

Welsh politicians are expected to scrap stamp duty in favour of a new land transaction tax in the first step towards devolving tax raising powers from Westminster to Cardiff.

The land transaction tax is expected to take the place of stamp duty from April 2018.

Landlords will pay the tax on buying, leasing or acquiring land or property over a certain value.

Rates of tax will be announced closer to the start date.

The new measure is part of a move to devolve tax-raising powers from Westminster to the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff.

The tax is based on a similar tax operating in Scotland.

Finance secretary Mark Drakeford said:

“This is an historic milestone in the devolution of tax powers to Wales. This bill marks another step towards the creation of taxes which are more suited to the needs of Wales and support Welsh public services.

“This is a tax which affects so many of us. By replacing stamp duty land tax with a new made-in-Wales land transaction tax, public services in Wales will continue to benefit from the revenues raised by this important tax.

“We have consulted widely about how this tax should work for Wales and listened to a range of views. This is why it will broadly mirror stamp duty land tax, providing the consistency and stability businesses tell us they need and providing a smooth transaction for home-buyers and the property market. We have also been able to learn from the devolution of the tax to Scotland.”

Stamp duty raised £170 million from 55,000 property transfers in the year to March 2015. The amount of tax is predicted to increase to £244 million by April 2019.

Welsh assembly members are also looking at taking over other taxes from Westminster, including income tax.