SNP urged to slash home tax

JOHN Swinney is under pressure to slash property taxes to ease pressure on house buyers.

Last month the then Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng cut stamp duty, making it cheaper to buy a home south of the Border.

A first-time buyer of a £350,000 home in Scotland will pay £7,750 in Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), while buyers in England and Northern Ireland will pay no stamp duty.

Experts are now urging the Scottish Government to follow suit and cut property tax.

Property firm boss David Alexander said Deputy First Minister Mr Swinney should provide help to home buyers by cutting LBTT when he delivers his mini-Budget this week. He said: ‘The last thing the Scottish Government wants is the housing market coming to a stop. Let’s increase the thresholds as they have done down south.’

Scottish Tory finance spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘The SNP Government is making a windfall from our broken housing market by refusing to increase thresholds for LBTT.’