Introduction and scope

Stamp duty is a tax on documents and has existed for over 300 years. During the latter part of the 20th century, and in particular following the introduction of stamp duty land tax (SDLT), the scope of stamp duty has been narrowed significantly.

The documents which are now within the scope of stamp duty are broadly confined to:

1. •

   instruments relating to stock or marketable securities

2. •

   instruments transferring an interest in a partnership, the assets of which include stock or marketable securities

3. •

   instruments which transfer UK land and buildings where the contract was entered into before 10 July 2003 and which are not within the SDLT regime

In practice, by far the most common circumstance where stamp duty is encountered is on stock transfer forms for the purchase of unquoted shares in UK registered companies.

The stamp duty statute is spread over many years, the most important legislation being the Stamp Act 1891 and FA 1999, Sch 13.

HMRC manual references are to the Stamp Taxes on Shares Manual