New Commercial Stamp Duty Rates Announced

In today's Budget, the Government has announced plans to charge no SDLT (Stamp Duty Land Tax) on commercial properties being purchased for £150,000 or less.

The rates will come into force at midnight, and apply to commercial property purchases from Thursday 17th March 2016 onwards - though transitional arrangements will be in place for purchases that are under way.

The treasury estimates that these changes will reduce the tax bill on around 90% of commercial property purchases, whilst also bringing in an extra £500m a year for the treasury, from the 9% of transactions it estimates will be affected by the higher rates.

The new SDLT rate will be zero for commercial property purchases up to £150,000, with a duty of 2% payable on the next £100,000 of the property value, rising to 5% for the remainder of the value over £250,000. See our commercial stamp duty rate table for further details.