Stamp duty revenue rises by 40 per cent
Homebuyers paid out a record-breaking £6.4 billion in stamp duty in 2006/07 - a rise of 40 per cent, or £1.6 billion, on the previous year.According to figures from Halifax, in the last five years the annual revenue from residential stamp duty has more than doubled and £5.1 billion of this year's total came from tax on homes worth more than £250,000 - more than three times the £1.6 billion paid five years agoStamp duty bands have not changed since 1997, despite a 191 per cent increase in house prices over the period, meaning that more houses than ever are in higher bands and that homebuyers are paying proportionally far more than they were ten years ago.Commenting on the figures, Martin Ellis, Halifax chief economist, said:"The revenue generated from stamp duty on property purchases has soared as governments of both political parties have failed to link thresholds to house price inflation. "We call on the government to raise all the stamp duty thresholds to reflect the increase in house prices over the past decade and to commit to doing so in the future."If stamp duty thresholds had been tied to the growth of property prices, homes would have to be worth about £1.46 million before buyers paid the highest rate of stamp duty and the three per cent band would now apply to homes worth over £739,000.
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