Stamp duty land tax

Stamp duty land tax

Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is a tax on land transactions. Land transactions are acquisitions of chargeable interests, ie legal or equitable interests in land located in England and Northern Ireland, for chargeable consideration (which has a particular meaning for SDLT purposes).

SDLT is charged as a percentage of the chargeable consideration on a progressive 'slice' system rather than a 'slab' basis. This means that the rates are charged on the portion of the chargeable consideration that falls within each rate band. In the case of leases, this includes any premium (usually a lump sum payment on the grant of a lease) and any rent.

Deadlines for:

•
notifying land transactions, and
•
paying SDLT

are supported by penalties and interest charges.

Land transactions are chargeable transactions unless they are exempt transactions or a relief from SDLT is claimed.

Notification of chargeable land transactions and payment of SDLT must be made within 14 days of the effective date (for transactions with an effective date on or after 1 March 2019 or for transactions that become notifiable on or after 1 March 2019) or 30

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Latest Tax News

Tax weekly highlights—19 March 2026

This week's edition of Tax weekly highlights includes: (1) the enactment of Finance Act 2026 on 18 March 2026, (2) HMRC launching a consultation on extending the Uncertain Tax Treatment regime, (3) News Analysis on the Court of Appeal’s decision in Muller UK and Ireland Group LLP that amortisation debits were correctly disallowed by HMRC, (4) News Analysis on the UT’s decision in Putney Power Limited on the issue of whether the appellants had begun to trade by the relevant date for EIS relief purposes, (5) new HMRC guidance on multinational top-up tax and domestic top-up tax reporting software, and (6) News Analysis on the FTT’s decision in Countrywide Partners Limited to uphold a penalty for failure to comply with a stop notice issued under the promoters of tax avoidance schemes (POTAS) rules.

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