Annual UK residential stamp duty revenue tops £8.9bn

The government collected £2.353 billion in revenue from Stamp Duty in the second quarter (April to June) of 2017, provisional figures from HMRC show.

This was slightly up on the £1.995 billion collected in the first three months of the year, though an increase in the second quarter is in line with seasonal trends.

Compared with the second quarter of 2016, stamp duty receipts were 19.2% higher than the £1.976 billion collected. However, direct comparisons with 2016 should be treated with caution, due to changes in taxpayer behaviour as a result of changes to taxation or the EU referendum.

On an annual basis government revenue from residential stamp duty receipts were £8.9 billion, the highest on record.

The new figures show that £503 million of the total receipts in the second quarter were as a result of the 3% surcharge for investors and second home purchasers.

Liam Bailey, Global Head of Research at Knight Frank, said: "The Treasury will welcome the figures for stamp duty receipts received in the second quarter of this year, the latest results contributed to a record annual total for stamp duty tax collected. As a reflection of the health of the housing market the figures need to be treated with some caution. It was expected that Q2 this year would see a notable improvement in transaction volumes compared to the same period last year – which was adversely affected by the introduction of the additional rate of stamp duty.

"While properties priced below £1m saw modest improvements, above this level the data is less impressive with an additional 400 properties transacting in Q2 this year priced between £1m and £2m compared to same period in 2016 and £2m+ transactions remaining unchanged between the two periods. While higher rates of stamp duty at the top of the market and the new additional rate have pushed receipts higher, the burden of stamp duty on market activity undoubtedly remains in place."