What your result means
Stamp duty due is the cash HMRC wants within 14 days of completion — it cannot be added to the mortgage, so it has to come from savings alongside your deposit and legal fees. The effective rate is that figure as a percentage of the price, which is always lower than the top band you reach, because each rate applies only to the slice of the price inside its band. Band breakdown shows exactly which slices were taxed at which rate.
First-time buyer relief disappears completely above £500,000
Every other SDLT threshold is a slice boundary: cross it and only the portion above it is taxed at the higher rate. First-time buyer relief is different. At £500,000 a first-time buyer pays £10,000; at £500,001 the relief is withdrawn in full and the standard bands apply to the whole price, taking the bill to £15,000.
That is a £5,000 jump for one extra pound of purchase price, and it is the one place in the system where negotiating the price down by a few thousand can save more than it costs. Try £500,000 and £505,000 as a first-time buyer here and compare.
How it works
SDLT is charged in slices, not on the whole price at one rate. The purchase price is cut at each threshold and the rate for that band applies only to the portion inside it, then the pieces are added together. First-time buyers use a more generous set of bands, but only up to £500,000. Buyers of an additional dwelling add five percentage points to every band, and non-UK residents add a further two.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the purchase price you have agreed.
- Choose who is buying — moving home, first-time buyer, or an additional property.
- Say whether you are UK resident for SDLT purposes.
- Read the duty due, the effective rate and the band-by-band breakdown.
Formula
slice = the portion of the price falling inside that band, band rate = the standard or first-time-buyer rate, plus 5 points for an additional property and 2 points for a non-resident buyer.
Example calculation
A £325,000 home bought by someone moving house and resident in the UK:
£125,000 @ 2% = £2,500
£75,000 @ 5% = £3,750
Stamp duty due = £6,250
Effective rate = 1.92% of the price
Frequently asked questions
Does this cover Scotland and Wales?＋
No. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax (LTT), each with its own thresholds and reliefs. This calculator is for England and Northern Ireland only.
Who counts as a first-time buyer?＋
Someone who has never owned a residential property anywhere in the world, including by inheritance or as part of a trust. Every buyer named on the purchase must qualify — if one of two joint buyers has owned before, no relief is available at all.
Can I get the additional-property surcharge back?＋
Usually, if you were replacing your main residence and sold the previous one late. Where the old home sells within the window HMRC allows after completing on the new one, the 5% surcharge can be reclaimed. It is a refund claim, not an exemption — the surcharge is paid first.
When does the money have to be paid?＋
The return must be filed and the tax paid within 14 days of completion. In practice your conveyancer handles both and takes the amount from the completion funds, so it needs to be sitting in your account before completion day, not after.
Is the surcharge charged on the whole price or just the top?＋
The whole price, band by band. Unlike the main rates, the additional-property surcharge is not a top-slice charge — it adds five points to every band including the 0% one, which is why a second home at £200,000 pays £11,500 where a main residence pays £1,500.
Related calculators
Assumptions & limitations
Every figure here comes from a simplified model. Keep these limits in mind when reading your result:
- England and Northern Ireland only — Scotland (LBTT) and Wales (LTT) have separate systems and different thresholds.
- Residential freehold purchases. Leasehold premiums are covered, but SDLT on the rent element of a new lease (charged at 1% of the net present value above £125,000) is not.
- Rates are those in force from 1 April 2025, unchanged at April 2026. Rates change at Budgets — check the date stamp below.
- Assumes a single dwelling. Mixed-use and non-residential purchases use a different rate table, and Multiple Dwellings Relief was abolished on 1 June 2024.
- No account is taken of reliefs beyond first-time buyer relief, or of company, trust and partnership purchases.