Stamp Duty Calculator (SDLT)

How Stamp Duty Land Tax is calculated

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) is charged on residential property purchases in England and Northern Ireland, using a banded structure much like Income Tax — each slice of the price is taxed at the rate for that band, not the whole price at one rate. For a standard purchase, the first £125,000 is tax-free, the portion from £125,000 to £250,000 is taxed at 2%, from £250,000 to £925,000 at 5%, from £925,000 to £1,500,000 at 10%, and anything above £1,500,000 at 12%. A £300,000 standard purchase, for example, pays nothing on the first £125,000, 2% on the next £250,000 slice, and 5% only on the final £50,000 — nowhere near 5% of the whole price.

Who actually pays it

The buyer pays SDLT, not the seller, and it's due within 14 days of completion — in practice almost always filed and paid by your solicitor or conveyancer out of the purchase funds, so you don't usually deal with HMRC directly. It applies to freehold and leasehold purchases alike, and to both cash buyers and those using a mortgage; the tax is based on the purchase price, not on how it's financed.

First-time buyer relief

If you (and anyone buying with you) have never owned a residential property anywhere in the world before, and the price is £500,000 or less, you pay 0% up to £300,000 instead of the standard £125,000 threshold, then 5% on the portion up to £500,000. This is a genuine tax saving, not just a higher nil-rate band — but it's an all-or-nothing threshold, not a taper: buy at exactly £500,000 and the relief applies in full; buy for a penny more and it disappears entirely, and the standard rates apply to the whole price instead. Always check which side of £500,000 your purchase falls on before assuming you qualify.

Additional property and non-UK-resident surcharges

Buying a residential property that means you'll own more than one — a second home, holiday let, or buy-to-let — adds a 5% surcharge on top of the standard rate for every band, including the portion that would otherwise be tax-free. A separate 2% surcharge applies if you're not a UK resident for SDLT purposes (broadly, fewer than 183 days in the UK in the year before the purchase), and the two surcharges stack if both apply to you. Neither surcharge is optional or capped — they apply to the entire price, calculated the same way as the standard bands.

Scotland and Wales use different taxes entirely

SDLT only applies in England and Northern Ireland. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), administered by Revenue Scotland with its own bands, rates, and first-time buyer relief. Wales charges Land Transaction Tax (LTT), administered by the Welsh Revenue Authority, again with its own separate rates. Both are structurally similar to SDLT — banded rates on the purchase price — but the actual thresholds and percentages differ, so this calculator doesn't attempt to model them; select Scotland or Wales above for a link to the right official calculator.

Buying a property? Check your take-home pay too

Working out how much you can afford often starts with your take-home pay rather than the property price. Try our take-home pay calculator to see your net monthly income after tax, National Insurance, and any pension contributions — a useful starting point alongside the stamp duty figure above when budgeting for a purchase.