Stamp duty is unbalanced and damaging, warns Lord Lamont

CHANGES to how Stamp Duty is levied on property sales has left Britain with an “unbalanced” tax system, a former Tory Chancellor has said.

Speaking on the eve of the Budget, Lord Lamont of Lerwick said he was “concerned by the impact of stamp duty on the housing market”.

The Daily Telegraph launched a campaign last year after it emerged that stamp duty reforms introduced by the Government in 2014 had slowed the housing market and raised half as much money as forecast.

Treasury officials are understood to have reviewed the impact of the stamp duty changes in recent weeks but Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, has decided against taking any action in tomorrow’s Budget.

Lord Lamont told a meeting organised by Leave Means Leave that while income tax rates and corporation tax “are pretty competitive … we are putting tremendous pressure on other taxes”. He added: “You mention for example stamp duty, we all know about the controversy over business rates – the system is in danger of getting a bit unbalanced.”

Lord Lamont – who was Chancellor from 1990 to 1993 - also raised ques- tions about whether Britain could be a low tax economy after Brexit, as has been mooted by current Chancellor .

Under the reforms of December 2014, the long-standing “slab” system, with homebuyers charged a percentage of the full purchase price as soon as it hits certain thresholds, was scrapped. Instead, George Osborne created a “slice” approach, with different per- centage rates applied to each portion of the price. Now there is no levy on sales under £125,000, then two per cent up to £250,000, five per cent up to £925,000, 10 per cent to £1.5 million, and 12 per cent above that.

Campaigners are hoping Mr Hammond will review Stamp Duty in November, when he will unveil a combined Budget and Autumn Statement.