Stamp Duty Land Tax Calculator

What this calculator does

• Calculates Stamp Duty Land Tax on a residential purchase in England or Northern Ireland.
• Applies first-time buyer relief where it is available.
• Applies the additional-property surcharge for second homes and buy-to-let.
• Reports the effective rate across the whole price.

How the calculation works

Stamp duty is a slice tax, not a slab tax, and that distinction is worth being clear about because it used to work the other way. Nothing is charged on the first £125,000. The portion between £125,000 and £250,000 is charged at 2%, the portion from £250,000 to £925,000 at 5%, from £925,000 to £1.5 million at 10%, and anything above that at 12%. Because only the slice inside each band is charged at that band's rate, a purchase at £250,001 costs five pence more than one at £250,000, not thousands more. First-time buyers get a different set of thresholds: nothing to £300,000 and 5% from £300,000 to £500,000, with the relief withdrawn entirely — not tapered — above £500,000, which creates a genuine cliff edge at that price. Where the purchase means you will own more than one residential property, a surcharge of 5% applies to the whole price, not just the portion above a threshold.

Step by step

1. Identify whether first-time buyer relief or the additional-property surcharge applies.
2. Split the purchase price across the relevant thresholds.
3. Charge each slice at its own rate.
4. Add 5% of the whole price where the surcharge applies.
5. Divide the total by the price to give the effective rate.

Worked example

A £425,000 house bought in England as a main residence, by someone who has owned before.

What was entered

The arithmetic

1. Nothing is charged on the first £125,000.
2. The slice from £125,000 to £250,000 is £125,000, charged at 2%: £2,500.
3. The slice from £250,000 to £425,000 is £175,000, charged at 5%: £8,750.
4. Total stamp duty is £2,500 + £8,750 = £11,250.
5. Across the whole £425,000 price that is an effective rate of about 2.65%.
6. A first-time buyer on the same purchase would pay £6,250 — nothing to £300,000, then 5% of £125,000 — saving £5,000.

What the calculator returns

Key assumptions

• The property is in England or Northern Ireland.
• The purchase is of a single residential freehold or leasehold dwelling.
• First-time buyer status means neither purchaser has ever owned a residential property anywhere in the world.

Limitations

• Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax. Neither is covered here, and both have different thresholds.
• First-time buyer relief is withdrawn entirely above £500,000 rather than tapered, so a purchase at £500,001 costs considerably more than one at £500,000.
• Multiple dwellings, mixed-use property, shared ownership, non-residential purchases and companies buying residential property all follow different rules.
• A non-UK resident surcharge applies in addition where relevant.
• The surcharge can sometimes be reclaimed if a previous main residence is sold within a set period, which the calculator does not model.

Common questions

Related calculators

• Scotland LBTT Calculator — For a Scottish property, Land and Buildings Transaction Tax applies instead.
• Mortgage Affordability Calculator — Stamp duty comes out of the same cash as your deposit, so it caps what you can buy.
• Buy-to-Let Calculator — See the surcharge in the context of a full buy-to-let appraisal.

Official sources

Every figure in this guide was checked against the sources below. Where a source could not confirm a figure, it is marked as requiring verification rather than presented as settled.

• Stamp Duty Land Tax: residential property rates — GOV.UKNil to £125,000; 2% to £250,000; 5% to £925,000; 10% to £1.5m; 12% above. Additional property surcharge 5%. First-time buyer relief: nil to £300,000, 5% to £500,000, withdrawn above £500,000
• Stamp Duty Land Tax — GOV.UKWhen SDLT is due, filing deadlines and which transactions are covered