Stamp Duty is stupid

Stamp duty is back in the news again (along with the echoing demands to reform it) so I thought I would take the opportunity to explain just why it is so problematic.

The thing is, it generates about £10 billion a year, so politicians are too scared to mess with it. But it is, itself, a MESS.

Data comes from the Office for National Statistics release, Housing affordability in England and Wales: 2025 and Transfer taxes and household mobility by Hilber and Lyytikainen, (2017)