Stamp Duty Calculator 2026
A free tool to calculate stamp duty for all situations. England, Northern Ireland, Scotland & Wales.
UK stamp duty is the tax buyers pay when purchasing property in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. This calculator covers all 2026 rates: SDLT for England and Northern Ireland, LBTT for Scotland, and LTT for Wales. It handles standard residential purchases, first-time buyer relief, the 5% additional dwelling surcharge for second homes and buy-to-let, the 2% non-UK resident surcharge, the 17% corporate flat rate, and commercial or mixed-use transactions.
Calculator
UK Stamp Duty Calculator 2026
Enter the purchase price, select the region and buyer type. The calculator returns total tax, effective rate, and the band-by-band breakdown using current 2026 rates.
What is stamp duty on UK property in 2026?
Stamp duty is the tax HMRC charges on most property purchases in the United Kingdom. In England and Northern Ireland it is called Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and is collected by HMRC. In Scotland the equivalent is Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) collected by Revenue Scotland. In Wales it is Land Transaction Tax (LTT) collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority. The bands, thresholds and surcharges differ in each region.
The amount you pay depends on three things: where the property sits, what kind of buyer you are, and the purchase price. Standard residential buyers replacing a main residence pay the base rate. First-time buyers get relief up to a property value cap. Buyers of an additional property pay a surcharge on top of the base rate. Non-UK residents pay a further 2% surcharge in England and Northern Ireland. Companies buying dwellings above £500,000 pay 17% flat. Commercial and mixed-use property uses a separate, lower band structure.
2026 rates
What are the 2026 SDLT rates for England and Northern Ireland?
SDLT for England and Northern Ireland uses a slab-and-band structure. Tax is paid only on the portion of the purchase price that falls within each band, not the whole price. The thresholds below apply to standard residential purchases from 1 April 2025 onwards.
| Property price band | Standard rate | First-time buyer rate | Additional property |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 - £125,000 | 0% | 0% | 5% |
| £125,001 - £250,000 | 2% | 0% (up to £300k) | 7% |
| £250,001 - £500,000 | 5% | 5% (£300k-£500k) | 10% |
| £500,001 - £925,000 | 5% | Standard rate applies | 10% |
| £925,001 - £1,500,000 | 10% | Standard rate applies | 15% |
| £1,500,001+ | 12% | Standard rate applies | 17% |
First-time buyer relief disappears entirely if the property price exceeds £500,000. Above that figure, standard rates apply. The additional dwelling surcharge moved from 3% to 5% on 31 October 2024 in the Autumn Budget. The corporate flat rate moved from 15% to 17% at the same time. A non-UK resident buying a dwelling pays an extra 2% on every band, on top of any other surcharge they trigger.
Standard residential purchase in London at £950,000. Band 1 £0-125k at 0% = £0. Band 2 £125k-250k at 2% = £2,500. Band 3 £250k-925k at 5% = £33,750. Band 4 £925k-950k at 10% = £2,500. Total SDLT = £38,750. Effective rate 4.08%.
What are the 2026 LBTT rates in Scotland?
Scotland's LBTT has a different band structure. The starting threshold is higher at £145,000, and the top rate kicks in at £750,000 rather than £1.5m. The Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) for second homes and buy-to-let purchases moved from 6% to 8% on 5 December 2024, the steepest second-home surcharge anywhere in the UK.
| Property price band | Standard LBTT | First-time buyer LBTT | Additional property (ADS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 - £145,000 | 0% | 0% | 8% |
| £145,001 - £175,000 | 2% | 0% (FTB relief) | 10% |
| £175,001 - £250,000 | 2% | 2% | 10% |
| £250,001 - £325,000 | 5% | 5% | 13% |
| £325,001 - £750,000 | 10% | 10% | 18% |
| £750,001+ | 12% | 12% | 20% |
Scottish first-time buyer relief is 0% up to £175,000 only, narrower than the English equivalent. The ADS at 8% means a £500,000 second home in Edinburgh attracts £40,000 in ADS on top of standard LBTT. We see Scottish holiday let buyers caught by this regularly. The maths needs to work after the ADS, not before it.
What are the 2026 LTT rates in Wales?
Wales is the only UK region with no first-time buyer relief. Every buyer pays the same standard LTT regardless of whether the purchase is their first. The threshold is higher than SDLT or LBTT at £225,000, but the absence of FTB relief means a Welsh first-time buyer at £280,000 pays £3,300 in LTT where an English first-time buyer at the same price pays nothing.
| Property price band | Standard LTT | Additional property (higher rates) |
|---|---|---|
| £0 - £225,000 | 0% | 5% |
| £225,001 - £400,000 | 6% | 11% |
| £400,001 - £750,000 | 7.5% | 12.5% |
| £750,001 - £1,500,000 | 10% | 15% |
| £1,500,001+ | 12% | 17% |
The higher rate for additional property in Wales moved from 4% to 5% in December 2024, putting it broadly in line with the English ADS but well below the Scottish ADS. Welsh LTT also has a tighter top-band threshold than England (£1.5m vs £1.5m matched, but the slope into 10% is steeper at £750,001).
What are the 2026 SDLT rates for commercial and mixed-use property?
Commercial and mixed-use property use the same non-residential SDLT band structure in England and Northern Ireland. The rates are identical. Pure commercial property (an office, a warehouse, a retail unit, a let HMO assessed as commercial) sits on those bands by default. Mixed-use property (a property with both residential and non-residential elements, such as a flat above a shop, a working farm with a farmhouse, or a building partly converted to commercial use) can be claimed onto the same non-residential bands instead of standard residential rates. The saving on a mixed-use claim is measured against the residential rate the property would otherwise attract, not against pure commercial.
The mixed-use classification can produce a material SDLT saving on properties between £500,000 and £2,000,000 where the highest residential band would otherwise apply. A £1m property that qualifies as mixed-use pays £39,500 in SDLT against £43,750 on standard residential rates, and against £93,750 if bought as an additional dwelling.
| Property price band | England & NI (SDLT) | Scotland (LBTT) | Wales (LTT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| £0 - £150,000 | 0% | 0% | 0% (to £225k) |
| £150,001 - £250,000 | 2% | 1% | 0% (to £225k) / 1% |
| £250,001 - £1,000,000 | 5% | 5% | 5% |
| £1,000,001+ | 5% | 5% | 6% |
HMRC's stance on what qualifies as mixed-use has tightened. A garden paddock or an unused outbuilding is unlikely to convert a residential transaction into mixed-use. The non-residential element needs to be genuinely commercial and either let to a third party or actively trading. Take advice before claiming mixed-use rates on a property that looks marginal. The clawback risk if HMRC rejects the classification is significant.
How does the non-UK resident 2% surcharge work?
A non-UK resident buying a residential property in England or Northern Ireland pays an extra 2% on every SDLT band, on top of any other surcharge they trigger. The non-resident test is whether the buyer was present in the UK for at least 183 days during the 12 months ending on the effective date of the transaction. Less than 183 days, the surcharge applies. There is no equivalent surcharge in Scotland or Wales for individuals, though the regional ADS or higher-rate surcharge still applies on additional property purchases.
The non-resident surcharge can be reclaimed if the buyer becomes UK-resident in any continuous 365-day period during the two years following the purchase. The reclaim is filed retrospectively. We see this work cleanly for clients on UK employment contracts who completed before their visa arrival, and we see it fail when buyers underestimate the 183-day test by counting partial days incorrectly.
When does the 17% corporate flat rate apply?
A company buying a residential dwelling worth more than £500,000 pays 17% SDLT as a flat rate on the entire purchase price, not band-by-band. The flat rate replaces all standard residential rates including the additional dwelling surcharge. Reliefs exist for certain corporate purchasers: property developers buying for redevelopment, property rental businesses meeting the qualifying conditions, employee residences, and farmhouses occupied by a working farmer. Each relief has tight qualifying criteria and ATED reporting consequences if the property's use changes.
For most family investment companies and SPVs buying buy-to-let property, the 17% rate does not apply because the property either sits under £500,000 or qualifies for property rental business relief. The 17% catches owner-occupied dwellings held through a personal company structure, which is the structure HMRC is targeting.
Second home in Bristol at £650,000 (England, additional property). Band 1 £0-125k at 5% = £6,250. Band 2 £125k-250k at 7% = £8,750. Band 3 £250k-650k at 10% = £40,000. Total SDLT = £55,000. Effective rate 8.46%.
First-time buyer flat in London at £450,000. Band 1 £0-300k at 0% (FTB relief) = £0. Band 2 £300k-450k at 5% = £7,500. Total SDLT = £7,500. Effective rate 1.67%. The same flat bought by a non-FTB replacing a main residence would attract £12,500 SDLT.
When do you have to pay stamp duty?
SDLT, LBTT and LTT are due within 14 days of the effective date of the transaction in England and Northern Ireland (filed via SDLT1 return), within 30 days in Scotland (LBTT return), and within 30 days in Wales (LTT return). The effective date is normally completion. Your conveyancer files the return and pays the tax on your behalf, drawing the funds from completion monies. You do not have to file it yourself but you remain liable if it goes wrong.
For most clients, missing the deadline is a paperwork issue rather than a strategic one. The penalties are modest for short delays. The bigger issue is incorrect classification: claiming mixed-use rates on a marginal property, missing the additional property surcharge on a buy-to-let purchase, or failing to apply the non-resident surcharge when it should have been included. HMRC has up to four years to investigate. Get it right at the point of return rather than fixing it later.
How can buyers reduce stamp duty legally?
There are legitimate stamp duty reduction routes that hold up under HMRC scrutiny. Multiple dwellings relief (MDR) was abolished from 1 June 2024 for residential purchases, removing the most-used route. What remains: claiming mixed-use rates where the property genuinely qualifies (commercial element actively trading), claiming the non-resident reclaim if the buyer becomes UK-resident within two years, claiming first-time buyer relief if the buyer has never owned property anywhere in the world, and apportioning fixtures and fittings (chattels) on furnished purchases. The chattels apportionment is small in absolute terms but legitimate where the values are realistic.
Schemes promising to eliminate or materially cut stamp duty through trust structures, corporate vehicles, or sub-sale relief have a poor track record. HMRC has actively pursued these and won most of the cases. The cases we find hardest to defend are the ones where a buyer was sold a structure by a tax adviser and assumed the broker's role is to make it work with a lender. It is not. We will not arrange a mortgage on a structure that looks like SDLT avoidance.
What about SDLT on overseas-bought UK property?
The SDLT or equivalent applies to UK property regardless of where the buyer is based. A non-UK resident individual buying a London flat pays the standard SDLT bands plus the 5% additional dwelling surcharge if they already own property anywhere in the world, plus the 2% non-resident surcharge. The cumulative rate on a £1m London additional dwelling for a non-resident is 12% effective, against 8.5% for a UK-resident additional dwelling buyer.
Foreign companies buying UK residential property pay the 17% corporate flat rate on dwellings over £500,000, the 5% additional dwelling surcharge does not stack on top of the 17% flat rate, but the 2% non-resident surcharge does. A foreign company buying a £2m London dwelling pays 17% + 2% = 19% flat = £380,000. UK property finance for offshore buyers is a specialism that needs to be priced into the broker conversation upfront.
Frequently asked questions
Has stamp duty gone up in 2026?
The 2024 Autumn Budget raised the additional dwelling surcharge from 3% to 5% (effective 31 October 2024) and the corporate flat rate from 15% to 17% (same date). The temporary higher SDLT thresholds expired 31 March 2025, returning standard residential bands to a £125,000 nil-rate threshold. Scotland's ADS rose from 6% to 8% on 5 December 2024, and Wales raised its higher-rate surcharge from 4% to 5% the same month. No further changes have been announced for 2026.
Do you pay stamp duty on a second home in 2026?
Yes. In England and Northern Ireland you pay standard SDLT plus a 5% additional dwelling surcharge on every band. In Scotland you pay standard LBTT plus the 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement. In Wales you pay standard LTT plus the 5% higher-rate surcharge. The surcharge applies even if you are selling your current main residence, unless the sale completes on the same day or before the second home purchase.
When does first-time buyer SDLT relief apply in England?
First-time buyer relief applies to purchases in England and Northern Ireland up to £500,000. Properties at £300,000 or below pay no SDLT. Properties between £300,001 and £500,000 pay 5% on the portion above £300,000. Properties above £500,000 receive no FTB relief at all and pay standard rates. All buyers must be first-time buyers, defined as never having owned a residential property anywhere in the world.
What stamp duty do you pay on a buy-to-let purchase?
A buy-to-let purchase attracts the additional dwelling surcharge. In England and Northern Ireland that is 5% on every SDLT band (so £125,001 to £250,000 is 7%, £250,001 to £925,000 is 10%, and so on). Scotland adds 8% (ADS) to standard LBTT. Wales adds 5% (higher rate) to standard LTT. Buy-to-let through a limited company structure attracts the same surcharge for purchases under £500,000, and the 17% corporate flat rate for any dwelling above £500,000 unless property rental business relief applies.
Is stamp duty the same in Scotland?
No. Scotland operates LBTT (Land and Buildings Transaction Tax) which has different bands and thresholds. The nil-rate starts at £145,000, the top rate of 12% kicks in at £750,000 rather than £1.5m, and the Additional Dwelling Supplement on second homes is 8% (the highest second-home surcharge anywhere in the UK). First-time buyer relief is narrower: 0% up to £175,000 only.
Is stamp duty the same in Wales?
No. Wales operates LTT (Land Transaction Tax). The nil-rate starts at £225,000, higher than SDLT or LBTT. The higher-rate surcharge for additional property is 5%. Wales is the only UK region with no first-time buyer relief: every buyer pays the standard LTT regardless of FTB status. A Welsh FTB at £300,000 pays £4,500 in LTT where an English FTB at the same price pays nothing.
Do non-UK residents pay more stamp duty?
Yes, in England and Northern Ireland. A non-UK resident pays an additional 2% on every SDLT band, stacked on top of any other surcharge. The non-resident test is fewer than 183 days in the UK during the 12 months ending on the transaction date. The 2% can be reclaimed if the buyer becomes UK-resident in any continuous 365-day period during the two years following the purchase. Scotland and Wales do not levy a non-resident surcharge on individuals.
How is stamp duty calculated on a mixed-use property?
Mixed-use property in England and Northern Ireland uses the non-residential SDLT band structure, which is 0% up to £150,000, 2% on £150,001 to £250,000, and 5% above £250,000. The classification can produce a meaningful SDLT saving on properties between £500,000 and £2,000,000 compared to standard residential rates. HMRC scrutinises mixed-use claims and will reject the classification where the commercial element is nominal. The non-residential element needs to be genuinely commercial, actively used and ideally let to a third party.
Do mixed-use and pure commercial property pay different stamp duty?
No. Pure commercial property (offices, retail, industrial, warehouses) and mixed-use property (residential plus genuine commercial element) sit on the same non-residential SDLT band structure: 0% up to £150,000, 2% on £150,001 to £250,000, 5% above £250,000. The rates are identical. The reason mixed-use matters is that a property with both residential and commercial elements can be claimed onto these lower non-residential bands instead of standard residential SDLT, producing a saving against the residential rate it would otherwise attract.
Do you pay stamp duty on inherited property?
No. Inherited property is exempt from stamp duty because no consideration changes hands. Inheritance tax may apply through the deceased's estate but that is separate from SDLT. If you later sell the inherited property and buy another, the buy-side transaction attracts standard SDLT. If you already owned another property at the date of inheritance, the inherited property counts as an additional dwelling for any subsequent purchase decisions involving the surcharge.
When does the additional dwelling surcharge not apply?
The 5% additional dwelling surcharge does not apply when you are replacing your only main residence, even if there is a brief overlap. If you complete the sale of your old main residence on the same day or before the new purchase, you pay standard rates. If the sale completes after the purchase, you pay the surcharge upfront and reclaim it provided the sale completes within 36 months. The surcharge also does not apply to properties below £40,000, to caravans, mobile homes or houseboats, or to certain transfers between spouses.
Can I add the stamp duty to my mortgage?
No. SDLT, LBTT and LTT must be paid in cash at completion. Lenders do not advance funds against stamp duty because it is not part of the property's value. Some buyers fund the stamp duty by increasing the deposit, by drawing on savings, by accessing equity from another property, or by using a regulated bridging loan where the timing requires it. We arrange bridging finance regularly where a client has the funds in an illiquid form (investment portfolio, pending property sale, deferred bonus) and needs the SDLT cash for a fixed completion date.
How accurate is this stamp duty calculator?
The calculator uses the published 2026 SDLT, LBTT and LTT bands and surcharge rates and computes tax on a strict band-by-band basis, the same way HMRC, Revenue Scotland and the Welsh Revenue Authority calculate it on their own returns. It handles standard residential, first-time buyer, additional property, non-UK resident, corporate, commercial and mixed-use scenarios. The calculator does not handle compound scenarios such as a non-resident company buying an additional dwelling (which stacks multiple surcharges), trust purchases, partnership transfers, or chargeable consideration involving deferred or contingent payments. For those scenarios, speak to a specialist tax adviser or call us.
How the calculator works
The calculator pulls the current 2026 rate bands for each region and applies them slab-by-slab. For a £750,000 standard residential purchase in England, the first £125,000 is taxed at 0%, the next £125,000 at 2%, and the remaining £500,000 at 5%. Total £27,500. The same property bought as an additional dwelling triggers the 5% surcharge on every band, lifting the total to £65,000. A non-UK resident buying the same property as an additional dwelling adds 2% on every band, taking the total to £80,000. Each surcharge stacks; none replaces the others except the 17% corporate flat which overrides everything for company purchases above £500,000.
For commercial and mixed-use property, the calculator uses the non-residential band structure with no surcharges. For FTB relief, the calculator checks the property price against the £500,000 cap and applies the FTB bands below it. For Scottish ADS, the surcharge is added at 8% on the relevant LBTT bands. For Welsh higher-rate purchases, the surcharge is added at 5% on the relevant LTT bands. The output shows total tax, effective rate (total tax divided by purchase price), and the band-by-band breakdown so you can see how the figure was built.
When to speak to us about stamp duty
For most standard residential purchases, the calculator returns the right number and your conveyancer files the return. For HNW, expat, non-resident, corporate or mixed-use purchases, the structuring matters and the stamp duty impact often influences whether the deal makes sense at all. We help clients cost stamp duty into their borrowing requirements upfront, so the mortgage is sized to cover the purchase price, the SDLT, and the deposit position together. The cases we find hardest to fix are the ones where the buyer agreed a price before working out the SDLT, then tried to make the mortgage stretch to cover both.
If you are buying a property over £1 million, buying through a company, buying as a non-resident, or buying a property with a mixed-use claim, we arrange the mortgage and signpost to the right tax adviser for the structuring conversation. Both happen in parallel, not in sequence.