This stamp duty calculator will help you figure out how much you’ll need to pay

Last week the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a Stamp Duty holiday for certain properties in order to aid the property market and to help buyers struggling due to the coronavirus crisis. Since this announcement, MoneySuperMarket has launched a Stamp Duty calculator to help buyers and potential buyers better understand how the holiday will affect them and their home buying plans. What is stamp duty? Stamp duty is a tax paid by anyone purchasing a property. How it works and how much you pay varies depending on the region of the UK in which the property is being bought, and the price of the property. In England and Northern Ireland, buyers pay Stamp Duty Land Tax. In Scotland, it is known as Land and Buildings Transaction Tax. In Wales, buyers pay Land Transaction Tax. Am I eligible for the stamp duty holiday? The stamp duty holiday will only apply to buyers in England and Northern Ireland. The new rules mean homebuyers will no longer be required to pay stamp duty on the first £500,000 of any property purchase. This could save buyers as much as £15,000, on a property worth £500,000 or more. The ‘holiday’ started on 8 July and is set to last until 31 March 2021. This is expected to boost the property market, after it was forced to pause during lockdown, as people were prevented from house viewings and high street real estate agents temporarily closed. Stamp duty calculator The process of buying a property can be fairly complex. So if you are in the process of buying a property in England or Northern Ireland, try using MoneySuperMarket’s new Stamp Duty Calculator to make the process that little bit smoother. You can find the calculator online, here. The calculator simply asks if you are a first time buyer, along with your property purchase price, before estimating how much money this new rule will save you on your purchase. Mark Gracey, Corporate Development Director at MoneySuperMarket, called the Chancellor’s announcement last week “historic”. “It means that many buyers could save substantial sums on their dream properties. For example, a first time buyer purchasing a property worth £400,000 would have incurred a £5,000 stamp duty bill prior to the Chancellor’s announcement – now their stamp duty bill will be zero,” said Gracey.