Gordon Brown is considering scrapping tax duty in a dramatic bid to kickstart the housing market, it was reported today.
The radical plan to temporarily abolish stamp duty is said to be part of a raft of new ideas to help ease the pressure on families feeling the pressure of the credit crunch.
Homebuyers currently pay one per cent stamp duty on homes bought for between £125,001 and £250,000, three per cent between £250,001 and £500,000, and four per cent over £500,000.
This means that for a house worth £251,000, buyers have to pay £7,530 stamp duty on top of all their other expenses such as solicitor’s fees and surveys.
As a result, homebuyers have paid a record-breaking £31.5billion in stamp duty over the last ten years, according to official figures.
The Prime Minister will be presented with the findings of the report when he returns from the Olympic Games closing ceremony at the end of the month, according to the Sun.
Last month it was reported that Treasury was seriously looking at proposals to reform property tax.
It would be wrong to say definitively that nobody is looking at it,' said a Treasury source at the time.
'Ministers and officials are very exercised about the housing market and they are looking at a lot of different measures.'
At the time it was suggested that the Treasury was considering offering stamp duty 'holidays' to first time buyers in a bid to ease the housing market crisis.
Figures last month showed that the Government's stamp duty receipts had been hit hard by the credit crunch.
Last week Nationwide figures showed that house prices were falling at a record rate, while experts predicted that they would fall by around 20 per cent by next year.
Falling house prices are reducing the tax revenue for the Government while the housing slump has meant that fewer houses are changing hands.
The audacious new plan comes as it was revealed that Gordon Brown is also planning to introduce new measures to protect poor families and the elderly from soaring fuel price rises.
In an attempt to reassert his authority the Prime Minister is also to hold an emergency Cabinet meeting outside Westminster when he returns from holiday
In an interview last month the Chancellor hinted that changes to stamp duty were possible.
‘Stamp duty is always a factor when people buy and sell houses but we need to make sure that we support the financial system too,’ he said.
The Tories have pledged to abolish stamp duty for most first-time buyers.
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/...scrap-stamp-duty-bid-help-housing-market.html
The radical plan to temporarily abolish stamp duty is said to be part of a raft of new ideas to help ease the pressure on families feeling the pressure of the credit crunch.
Homebuyers currently pay one per cent stamp duty on homes bought for between £125,001 and £250,000, three per cent between £250,001 and £500,000, and four per cent over £500,000.
This means that for a house worth £251,000, buyers have to pay £7,530 stamp duty on top of all their other expenses such as solicitor’s fees and surveys.
As a result, homebuyers have paid a record-breaking £31.5billion in stamp duty over the last ten years, according to official figures.
The Prime Minister will be presented with the findings of the report when he returns from the Olympic Games closing ceremony at the end of the month, according to the Sun.
Last month it was reported that Treasury was seriously looking at proposals to reform property tax.
It would be wrong to say definitively that nobody is looking at it,' said a Treasury source at the time.
'Ministers and officials are very exercised about the housing market and they are looking at a lot of different measures.'
At the time it was suggested that the Treasury was considering offering stamp duty 'holidays' to first time buyers in a bid to ease the housing market crisis.
Figures last month showed that the Government's stamp duty receipts had been hit hard by the credit crunch.
Last week Nationwide figures showed that house prices were falling at a record rate, while experts predicted that they would fall by around 20 per cent by next year.
Falling house prices are reducing the tax revenue for the Government while the housing slump has meant that fewer houses are changing hands.
The audacious new plan comes as it was revealed that Gordon Brown is also planning to introduce new measures to protect poor families and the elderly from soaring fuel price rises.
In an attempt to reassert his authority the Prime Minister is also to hold an emergency Cabinet meeting outside Westminster when he returns from holiday
In an interview last month the Chancellor hinted that changes to stamp duty were possible.
‘Stamp duty is always a factor when people buy and sell houses but we need to make sure that we support the financial system too,’ he said.
The Tories have pledged to abolish stamp duty for most first-time buyers.
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/news/...scrap-stamp-duty-bid-help-housing-market.html