Stamp Duty Calculator: What You Pay on a Home in England and Northern Ireland
Stamp duty land tax is the one-off tax on buying a home in England and Northern Ireland, and for most buyers it is the largest single cost after the deposit. It is not charged at one flat rate on the whole price. The price is cut into slices, and each slice is taxed at the rate for its band, so only the part of the price that crosses a threshold pays the higher rate. On top of the bands sit three things that can change the bill a lot: relief for first-time buyers, a surcharge on additional properties, and a surcharge for buyers who are not resident in the UK. Which set of rates applies is decided by the completion date, and this calculator covers completions from 23 September 2022 to today, including the day the temporary rates ended on 31 March 2025.
The rates here were checked line by line against GOV.UK on 31 October 2026. That check matters more than it used to, because the rules changed twice in eighteen months: the additional property surcharge rose in October 2024, and the temporary rate bands expired in April 2025. Any calculator still working from the older tables will understate the tax on an ordinary purchase by thousands of pounds.
How the calculator works
Answer four short questions and the result updates as you type. The price is the full amount you are paying for the property. The buyer type picks the band table: first-time buyer relief, the standard bands, or the higher rates for an additional property. The non-resident switch adds its surcharge when it applies to you, and the completion date picks the set of rates that was in force on the day. The breakdown table under the result shows every slice of your price, the rate charged on it and the tax it produces, so you can follow the bill line by line. The slices are added exactly and the total is then rounded down to the nearest whole pound, which is the rounding rule HMRC sets out in its Stamp Duty Land Tax Manual (SDLTM00050). Your typed price is never rewritten: what you enter is what is used.
The current rates, from 1 April 2025
For a main home, the standard residential bands are:
| Slice of the price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 to £925,000 | 5% |
| £925,001 to £1,500,000 | 10% |
| Above £1,500,000 | 12% |
A common misunderstanding is that crossing a threshold puts the whole price at the higher rate. It does not. On a £300,000 main home, the first £125,000 is taxed at nothing, the next £125,000 at 2% and only the last £50,000 at 5%. The worked example below shows the arithmetic in full.
First-time buyer relief, and its cliff edge
If every buyer is a genuine first-time buyer, meaning none of you has ever owned a share of a home anywhere in the world, and you will live in the property as your main home, the bands soften: nothing is charged on the first £300,000, and 5% is charged on the slice from £300,001 to £500,000. The relief has a hard edge. Buy at £500,000 and the tax is £10,000. Buy at £500,001 and the relief is lost in full, the standard bands apply to the whole price, and the tax jumps to £15,000. One pound of price costs £5,000 of tax, which is worth knowing before you agree a figure close to the line. First-time buyer status and additional property status cannot apply to the same purchase, because a first-time buyer owns no other home by definition, so the calculator never offers the two together.
The additional property surcharge
Buy a second home, a buy-to-let or a property to flip while you still own another home worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world, and every band rate rises by 5 points. The higher table is:
| Slice of the price | Higher rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 5% |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | 7% |
| £250,001 to £925,000 | 10% |
| £925,001 to £1,500,000 | 15% |
| Above £1,500,000 | 17% |
The surcharge only applies at a price of £40,000 or more; below that, the standard bands apply and the tax is normally nil. Your spouse or civil partner's homes count as yours, and the same is true for any joint buyer. Replacing your main home is the main escape: if you have sold your previous main home before completion, or you sell it within three years afterwards, the higher rates do not stick, and any surcharge already paid can be reclaimed. The surcharge itself rose from 3 points to 5 points on 31 October 2024, which is why the completion date matters even inside the older rate period below.
The non-UK resident surcharge
Since 1 April 2021, buyers who are not resident in the UK pay 2 points more on every band, including the first-time buyer bands and the higher additional property bands. Residence for this tax is a simple day count: you are non-resident for the purchase if you were present in the UK on fewer than 183 days in the 12 months before completion. Being present means being in the UK at the end of the day, days anywhere in the UK count, and your citizenship and your income tax residence are both beside the point. The surcharge applies from a price of £40,000. Buying jointly needs care: if any joint buyer is non-resident, the surcharge normally lands on the whole purchase, but spouses and civil partners who are not separated are treated as one person, so one resident partner covers the other. If you pay the surcharge and later meet the 183 day test in a 12 month period after completion, the extra tax can be claimed back by amending the return within two years.
A worked example
Take a main home at £295,000, the example GOV.UK itself uses. The price falls into three slices. The first £125,000 is charged at 0% and produces nothing. The next £125,000 is charged at 2% and produces £2,500. The remaining £45,000 is charged at 5% and produces £2,250. The slices add to £4,750, an effective rate of about 1.61% on the whole price. Buy the same house as an additional property at £300,000 and the arithmetic changes with the rates: £125,000 at 5% is £6,250, £125,000 at 7% is £8,750, and £50,000 at 10% is £5,000, a total of £20,000. Same method, same slicing, very different bill, which is why the buyer type question at the top of the calculator is worth answering carefully.
Filing and paying: the 14 day deadline
The tax is settled at completion, not when you agree the price. Your solicitor or conveyancer normally files the stamp duty return and pays HMRC out of the completion money, and both the return and the payment must reach HMRC within 14 days of completion. A return is still needed when first-time buyer relief brings the tax down to nothing: a purchase at £40,000 or more has to be filed even when the bill itself is nil. Freehold purchases under £40,000 are the exception, needing neither a return nor a payment. Miss the 14 day window and penalties and interest start to build, which is why the figure is worth settling with your conveyancer before completion day.
The temporary rates, 23 September 2022 to 31 March 2025
For two and a half years a softer set of rates ran. The nil rate band reached £250,000, there was no 2% band, and first-time buyers paid nothing up to £425,000 with relief available up to a price of £625,000. The additional property surcharge was 3 points for completions up to 30 October 2024 and 5 points from 31 October 2024. The non-resident surcharge was 2 points throughout. Those rates still matter: purchases that completed in that window are checked against them, higher rate refunds run for three years, and a completion that slipped by a day across 31 March 2025 can owe a different figure. At £300,000, a main home completing on 31 March 2025 pays £2,500; completing on 1 April 2025 it pays £5,000. The calculator picks the table from the completion date you enter, so old and new cases are both worked on the rules that were live at the time. Completions before 23 September 2022, including the 2020 to 2021 stamp duty holiday, are outside this calculator.
What this calculator does not cover
Scotland. Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) is the devolved replacement for stamp duty on Scottish land, administered by Revenue Scotland rather than HMRC and set by the Scottish Parliament. Its bands, rates and reliefs differ from the ones on this page, and its additional dwelling supplement works differently, so never use an SDLT figure for a Scottish purchase.
Wales. Land Transaction Tax (LTT) replaced stamp duty in Wales for completions on or after 1 April 2018 and is run by the Welsh Revenue Authority. The Senedd sets its own residential bands and higher rates, and Wales has no first-time buyer relief at all, so Welsh purchases need the LTT rules, not this calculator.
Non-residential and mixed use property. Shops, offices, farmland and mixed purchases use a separate, gentler table: 0% up to £150,000, 2% from £150,001 to £250,000 and 5% above that, so a £275,000 commercial purchase pays £3,250. That table is printed here for reference only; the calculator above is residential only. Also outside the tool: the rent element of a new lease, shared ownership staircasing, purchases linked to another transaction, and purchases by companies, which can face a flat 17% rate on homes over £500,000.
Frequently asked questions
How much stamp duty will I pay on a £350,000 house as a first-time buyer?
£2,500. First-time buyer relief takes the first £300,000 out of tax completely, and only the £50,000 above it is charged, at 5%. The same house bought as a main home by someone who has owned before would cost £7,500, and bought as an additional property it would cost £25,000.
Why is the stamp duty on my £180,000 second home so much higher than on a first home?
Because every rate carries the additional property surcharge of 5 points. On £180,000 the slices are £125,000 at 5% and £55,000 at 7%, which come to £10,100. A main home at the same price pays 2% on the £55,000 slice only, a total of £1,100. If the property cost less than £40,000, the surcharge would not apply at all.
My purchase completes around the end of March 2025. Does the exact day change the tax?
Yes, by thousands of pounds at some prices. The temporary rates ended on 31 March 2025 and the current rates began on 1 April 2025. A main home at £300,000 completing on 31 March 2025 pays £2,500. The same purchase completing a day later pays £5,000, because the nil rate band halved from £250,000 to £125,000 and a 2% band appeared. Set the completion date in the calculator to the day on your contract and it applies the right set of rates.
I worked abroad last year. Do I count as a non-UK resident for stamp duty?
It depends on days, not on your job or your passport. You are treated as non-UK resident for the purchase if you were present in the UK on fewer than 183 days in the 12 months before completion. Present means being in the UK at the end of the day, and days anywhere in the UK count. If the surcharge applies and you later spend at least 183 days in the UK in a 12 month period after completion, you can claim the extra 2% back by amending your return within two years.
Does this calculator work for a house in Scotland or Wales?
No. Scotland replaced stamp duty with the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, run by Revenue Scotland, and Wales uses the Land Transaction Tax, run by the Welsh Revenue Authority. Both set their own bands and reliefs, and Wales offers no first-time buyer relief at all, so a figure from this page would mislead on a Scottish or Welsh purchase. This calculator covers England and Northern Ireland only.
Related calculators: Mortgage Calculator, House Affordability Calculator, Refinance Calculator and Rent Calculator.
Stamp duty is usually settled by your solicitor on completion day, out of the money you send over for the deposit and the balance. Knowing the figure before you offer changes the conversation, though: it tells you whether a small step up in price crosses a band edge, or, for first-time buyers near £500,000, falls off the relief cliff entirely. More worked examples and buying cost guides are collected on the CalcMega blog.
Disclaimer: this calculator and guide explain stamp duty land tax for education only and are not tax, legal or financial advice. Your solicitor or conveyancer works from your full circumstances, including any reliefs, linked purchases or lease terms this tool does not model, so confirm the final figure with them before you complete.
Further reading: HMRC publishes the full rules, the rate tables for every period and its own worked examples in the official guide at gov.uk/stamp-duty-land-tax.