Tax incidence!
‘Make property sellers pay stamp duty’
What?
Stamp duty should be paid by the seller of a home rather than the buyer to give a boost to those trying to get on to the property ladder, the Yorkshire Building Society has suggested.
The mortgage lender said that the move would make first-time buyers entirely exempt from the tax burden, saving an average of £3,791 in England and £13,171 in London.
Err, but….
Yorkshire Building Society believes that the reform would increase the number of transactions by 16,000 in the first year, including 6,000 more houses bought by first-time buyers.
This is based on the expectation of a 2 per cent increase in transactions after the overhaul, similar to the effect of the stamp duty holiday in 2009. That was introduced in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis amid the cooling of the property market.
No, who writes the checque changing is not the same as a tax not existing.
Mr McPhillips said there was a risk that those selling would simply increase their asking prices to take account of in the higher stamp duty, but argued that there was “no real incentive” for people to do so. “Yes, you are having to pay the stamp duty on the property you are selling, but it is less than the one you are buying, so in a net change you are better off.”
Facepalm.