The Sticky Subject Of Stamp Duty

Philip Syvret, Head of the Property Team at Benest & Syvret looks at the tangled web of stamp duty on buy to let property purchases and calls for a radical rethink.

Never trust a politician who promises that a tax will be temporary! Did you know that stamp duty was first introduced in England in 1694 to help fund the war with France? It was said to be a temporary measure. But, if you'll pardon the pun, somehow it stuck!

Such was the ease of collection and the level of revenue recovered from stamp duty over the years it came to be applied to items as diverse as playing cards and printed publications. Some may even remember that in the middle of the last century there was a stamp duty on a cheque.