Stamp duty calculator

How this calculator works

Property purchase tax is charged in slices, like income tax. We take your price, cut it at each band threshold, and tax only the part that falls inside each band. That's why moving just above a threshold costs far less than people fear - the higher rate applies to the slice above it, not to the whole price. The breakdown table shows every slice and what it costs.

Three nations, three different taxes

These aren't regional variations on one tax - devolution created three genuinely separate ones. England and Northern Ireland pay Stamp Duty Land Tax to HMRC, starting at £125,000. Scotland pays Land and Buildings Transaction Tax to Revenue Scotland, starting at £145,000 with a different band structure. Wales pays Land Transaction Tax to the Welsh Revenue Authority, starting at £225,000 - the most generous threshold of the three.

First-time buyers

England gives first-time buyers a separate, more generous band table - but with a genuine cliff edge: above £500,000 the relief disappears completely and the standard rates apply to the entire price, not just the excess. The calculator flags that the moment you cross it. Scotland instead lifts the nil-rate band to £175,000, worth a flat £600, and it doesn't void at higher prices. Wales has no first-time buyer relief at all.

Second homes, buy-to-let and companies

England adds a 5% surcharge to the whole price (raised from 3% at the October 2024 Budget) and Scotland adds an 8% supplement (raised from 6% in December 2024). Wales is the odd one out: it uses a completely separate higher-rate band table rather than a surcharge, so a Welsh second home genuinely cannot be worked out by adding a percentage to the main bill. All three only bite from £40,000 upwards.

A limited company is never a main home or a first-time buyer, so those higher rates always apply. In England a company buying a single dwelling above £500,000 can also face a flat 15% charge on the whole price - unless a relief applies, and the property-rental-business relief covers most buy-to-let companies. Because claiming it is the normal case, we don't apply the 15% automatically; we tell you when you're in that territory instead.

What this doesn't cover

Non-UK-resident surcharges, mixed-use and commercial property, multiple-dwellings relief, linked transactions and shared ownership are all outside this calculator, and each can change the bill substantially. Thresholds also move at Budgets, independently in each nation. Treat the figure as an estimate, check it against the official links above, and let your conveyancer confirm it before you commit to anything.