SENEDD raise taxes on property people!

HIGHER LAND TRANSACTION TAX (Stamp Duty) for Landlords and those who purchase a second property revealed in Wales draft budget with effect from 11^th December….. & news on FREEPORT.

Wales has followed England and Scotland and raised Land Transaction Tax duty on purchases by landlords or second properties. 

• Taxpayers who exchanged contracts before December 11, 2024 will pay the previous rates.
• The Senedd is not proposing changes to any of the other rates or bands of LTT.

Mark Drakeford, the Welsh Cabinet Secretary for Finance, told fellow Senedd members that the country’s draft budget will include a 1% increase in the higher residential rates of Land Transaction Tax, which is its equivalent to stamp duty, for landlords.

The introduction of the higher rate is immediate – a landlord completing on a BTL purchase yesterday would have paid 1% less Land Transaction that a counterpart completing today.  The Senedd will vote in January to give the new rates permanent effect.

Drakeford also said a loophole in the country’s tax rules, which enable some property investors to claim both multiple dwelling relief and ‘subsidiary dwelling exemption’ would be closed.

Until yesterday, depending on the value of the property being bought, landlord and second home buyer rates for Land Transaction Tax started at 4% for the first £180,000 and then rose in ‘slabs’ to 16% for properties over £1.5 million, the higher residential rates all of which have now risen by 1%. See full list below.

Drakeford, who also revealed increased spending on affordable homes.  The rise is expected to raise an additional £7 million for public services next year.

Higher Residential Rates from 11 December 2024:

• £0 – £180,000 – 5%
• More than £180,000 – £250,000 – 8.5%
• More than £250,000 – £400,000 – 10%
• More than £400,000 – £750,000 – 12.5%
• More than £750,000 – £1.5m – £15%
• Above £1.5m – 17%

How to avoid Welsh Land Transaction Tax?

You will not have to pay LTT if you:

1. Buy a property for less than £225,000 and you do not own any other property.
2. Buy a new lease for less than 7 years.

The FREEPORT:

Draft regulations will also be laid to extend the new LTT special tax sites relief currently afforded to the Celtic Freeport, to the relevant designated areas of the Ynys Môn Freeport. Those regulations are subject to the draft affirmative procedure and Senedd approval will be sought in January to ensure the relief is in place when the UK Government’s designation regulations come into force. 

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