Stamp Duty Calculator (2026/27) - England, Scotland & Wales

Use the stamp duty calculator above

Type in the price you're paying, choose England & NI, Scotland or Wales, and tell the tool whether this is your only home, a first-time purchase, or an additional property. It returns the tax due and, where relevant, how much first-time buyer relief saves you. Use it before you make an offer so the tax is part of your budget, not a shock when the conveyancer asks for cleared funds.

How stamp duty is worked out

The single most important thing to understand is that "stamp duty" is not one UK-wide tax. It is three separate taxes set by three different governments:

• England & Northern Ireland — Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT), collected by HMRC.
• Scotland — Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), collected by Revenue Scotland.
• Wales — Land Transaction Tax (LTT), collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority.

All three are progressive and use the "slice" method, exactly like income tax. You don't pay one flat rate on the whole price. Instead each rate applies only to the portion of the price that falls inside that band. So if a band charges 5% on the slice between £250,001 and £925,000, only the pounds inside that range are taxed at 5% — not the whole purchase price.

The plain-English formula is the same for every nation:

Tax = sum of (slice of price in each band × that band's rate)

You work down the bands, multiply the part of your price that sits in each band by the rate for that band, and add the results together. The calculator does this automatically, but seeing the maths helps you sanity-check the answer and understand why a slightly higher offer can push part of the price into a more expensive band.

Two things change the rates. If you're a first-time buyer in England, NI or Scotland, a larger zero-rate band applies (Wales has no first-time buyer relief). If you're buying an additional property — a second home or a buy-to-let while keeping another home — a surcharge is added on top. You can model the additional-property version with our second home stamp duty calculator, and first-time buyers can check their exact saving with the first-time buyer stamp duty calculator.

Worked example: a couple buying a £350,000 home in England

Say you're buying your next main home in England for £350,000 (not first-time buyers, not an additional property). Applying the standard SDLT slices:

• £0 – £125,000 at 0% = £0
• £125,001 – £250,000 (a £125,000 slice) at 2% = £2,500
• £250,001 – £350,000 (a £100,000 slice) at 5% = £5,000

Total SDLT = £2,500 + £5,000 = £7,500. That's an effective rate of about 2.1% of the price, even though the top slice was taxed at 5%.

Worked example: a first-time buyer at £400,000

First-time buyer relief in England applies when the price is £500,000 or less. The zero band runs to £300,000 and the slice from £300,001 to £500,000 is taxed at 5%. On a £400,000 flat:

• £0 – £300,000 at 0% = £0
• £300,001 – £400,000 (a £100,000 slice) at 5% = £5,000

Total = £5,000. Without relief the same purchase would cost £10,000, so the relief saves £5,000. If the price tips over £500,000 by even £1, the relief disappears entirely and standard rates apply to the whole purchase — a genuine cliff edge worth negotiating around.

Worked example: a £350,000 second home

Buy the same £350,000 property as an additional dwelling in England and the +5% surcharge applies to every band. The standard SDLT of £7,500 stands, plus 5% of the whole £350,000 = £17,500, giving £25,000 in total. The surcharge applies once the price is £40,000 or more, and a further 2% is added if you're a non-UK resident.

2026/27 rates and thresholds

These are the residential rates for the 2026/27 tax year. Always confirm against the official source before completion, as governments can change bands at a Budget.

SDLT — England & Northern Ireland (standard rates)

First-time buyers (purchase £500,000 or less): 0% to £300,000, then 5% from £300,001 to £500,000. Additional property surcharge: +5% on every band. Source: gov.uk SDLT residential rates.

LBTT — Scotland

First-time buyer relief raises the zero band to £175,000. The Additional Dwelling Supplement (ADS) is 8% of the whole price on additional dwellings of £40,000 or more. Run Scottish figures through the LBTT calculator. Source: revenue.scot.

LTT — Wales (main residential rates)

Wales has no first-time buyer relief, and a separate set of higher rates applies to additional properties. Welsh buyers can use the LTT calculator. Source: gov.wales. A £350,000 main home costs £7,500 in LTT (£125,000 of the slice above £225,000 at 6%) — the same as SDLT here by coincidence, while the same price in Scotland costs £8,350 in LBTT.

How to keep the bill down

• Watch the band edges. Offering £255,000 instead of £250,000 drags £5,000 into the 5% SDLT band. Negotiating just under a threshold can save more than the price reduction itself.
• Claim first-time buyer relief if you qualify. You must never have owned a property anywhere in the world, and all buyers on the deeds must be first-time buyers. In England the price ceiling is £500,000.
• Reclaim the surcharge if you're replacing your main home. If you buy before selling your old main residence you pay the additional-property rate, but you can usually reclaim it if you sell the previous home within 36 months.
• Don't over-value fixtures. Genuinely movable items (carpets, curtains, free-standing appliances) can be apportioned out of the chargeable price, but be realistic — HMRC challenges inflated figures.
• Budget for the rest. Stamp duty is one line in your moving costs. Pair this with our conveyancing fees calculator and mortgage calculator to see the full picture.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming England's rates apply everywhere. Scotland and Wales have different bands, different reliefs and different surcharges. A Scottish first-time buyer's threshold (£175,000) is nothing like England's (£300,000).
• Forgetting the deadline. SDLT and LTT returns and payment are due within 14 days of completion; LBTT in Scotland is due within 30 days. Your solicitor usually handles this, but you provide the funds.
• Missing the additional-property trigger. If you own any share of another property anywhere in the world, even inherited, the surcharge can apply — not just to obvious buy-to-lets.
• Ignoring the FTB cliff edge. A few thousand pounds over £500,000 in England wipes out the whole first-time buyer relief.

You can read HMRC's full guidance and use the official tool on gov.uk's stamp duty pages, and find independent help on the MoneyHelper website. These figures are checked for the 2026/27 tax year.

These results are estimates for guidance only and are not personal tax or financial advice. Confirm your liability with your solicitor or a qualified adviser before you complete.

Related calculators

Plan the rest of your move with the first-time buyer stamp duty calculator for your exact relief, the second home stamp duty calculator for additional-property surcharges, and the house deposit calculator to check how much you need saved.