Glossary / Tax and structure

Stamp duty land tax

Stamp Duty Land Tax is the tax paid on property purchases in England and Northern Ireland, charged in bands on the portion of price falling in each band, with surcharges for additional properties and for non-UK residents.

The additional property surcharge and the non-resident surcharge both apply on top of the standard rates, and both apply to every band including the one that would otherwise be zero.

For an overseas buyer purchasing a rental, the two together add seven percentage points across the whole price.

Where people get it wrong

Reading the headline bands and stopping. On a six hundred thousand pound flat the surcharges take the bill from about twenty thousand pounds to about sixty two thousand.

The framework behind it Dubai versus London sets out the rule, the arithmetic and where it breaks.

Read the framework

Related terms

Tax residency Tax residency is the status that determines which country taxes your worldwide income, decided by each country's own statutory tests rather than by your nationality or your visa. Transfer fee The transfer fee is the charge levied by the Dubai Land Department to register a change of property ownership, set at four percent of the sale price and customarily paid by the buyer. Leasehold Leasehold ownership is the right to occupy a property for a fixed term of years while the freehold remains with someone else, after which the property reverts to the freeholder.

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