Land and Buildings

Stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax

Type of charge	Rate of charge
Stamp duty (SD) charged on purchase price if above £1,000 (no SD if price below £1,000)	0.5%
Stamp duty reserve tax (SDRT) charged at flat rate on whole purchase price	0.5%
SD or SDRT payable by the purchaser on “cash securities”, e.g. bearer shares and depository receipts	1.5%

SD is payable on transfers of securities where a transfer document, e.g. stock transfer form or other non-land related sale contract, is used for the transfer.
SDRT is due on agreements to transfer securities. Where SD is paid promptly on a transfer document, no SDRT arises. Where there’s no transfer document, e.g. for transfers through CREST, SDRT applies.

Main exemptions

Exemptions from the SD and SDRT

The purchase of government stocks, known as gilts, and most bonds

Transactions within company groups

Transfers where the consideration is less than £1,000 (SD only)

Transactions for nil consideration (gifts)

The purchase of non-UK securities in the UK are excluded from SD and SDRT, provided the company does not maintain a UK share register