Osborne faces call to overhaul stamp duty

The Chancellor is facing calls to overhaul stamp duty amid claims that revenues will rise to £15bn and a warning that it is "punishing aspirational Britain". The Taxpayers’ Alliance figures claim that receipts will rise in real terms from £9bn this year to £15bn in five years' time, an increase of 73%. A 3% rate on properties worth £250,000 or more was introduced in 2000. According to Savills, if stamp duty had kept pace with house-price inflation, it would now stand at £500,000. Conservative MP Henry Smith said that he wanted to see thresholds increase “significantly” to help families trying to buy a house. He said: "Many average home buyers are now finding themselves subject to quite significant stamp duty rates." Meanwhile, the EY ITEM club says in its pre-Budget briefing today that there is a strong argument for indexing the thresholds to rise in line with inflation or house prices. The Times, Page: 2