Should Stamp Duty Land Tax be abolished on all but the most expensive properties?

A recent think tank has prepared a report on this theory.

Its main proposal is that abolishing stamp duty on homes worth less than £500,000 would help more than 770,000 people move up the property ladder.  However abolishing stamp duty on these properties would leave a large deficit in Treasury finances.

The report suggests that the deficit can be made up by putting surcharges on property which may be under taxed. For example, tax could be charged on properties which have been left empty for more than 6 months of a year which would close a loophole that allows foreign investors (in particular) to buy properties for tax purposes without ever living in them.

The report also favours raising the current three percent stamp duty surcharge on second homes and investments properties.

During Boris Johnson’ campaign to become party leader he proposed radical changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax including raising the threshold from £125,000 to £500,000 but there have been no further announcements since he took office.