Welsh stamp duty surcharge to increase

The draft Welsh Budget announced today includes changes to Welsh stamp duty (“land transaction tax”) that will take effect from tomorrow, 22 December 2020, unless contracts have exchanged before that date say leading tax and advisory firm Blick Rothenberg.

Sean Randall, a partner at the firm said: “the measures are a proportionate response to the effect of the pandemic in Wales. Pressure will now be on the UK government to pass similar measures.”

He added: “ The changes are:

One per cent increase in the surcharge for purchases of “additional” dwellings by individuals and purchases of dwellings by companies (from three per cent to four per cent – the surcharge is three per cent in England and Northern Ireland and already four per cent in Scotland);
A 50 per cent increase in the nil-rate band for non-residential (or mixed) transactions from £0-£150,000 to £0-£225,000.”
Sean said: “ The extra revenue produced by the higher surcharge, estimated at £13 million, will be invested in social housing.

“ The increased nil-rate band for non-residential (and mixed) transactions is designed to help businesses recover from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.”

“The Welsh government also announced that the stamp duty “holiday” will not be extended in Wales. It will end, as planned, for completions on or after 1 April 2021.”