Free Stamp Duty (SDLT) calculator
Work out the stamp duty (SDLT) on a home in England or Northern Ireland — band by band, for movers, first-time buyers and second-home buyers. Enter the price and who is buying to see the total SDLT due, the per-band breakdown and the effective rate, updated live, as you type.
On this page14 sections
Estimates only, for England & NI residential property. Not tax or legal advice.
Results are estimates. Consult a professional.
How the stamp duty calculator works
Stamp Duty Land Tax — SDLT — is the tax you pay when you buy a home in England or Northern Ireland. It is not a flat percentage of the price. It is a banded, or "slice", tax: each rate applies only to the part of the price that falls inside its band, the same way income tax works. The calculator splits your purchase price across the bands, taxes each slice at its own rate, and adds the slices up. Tell it the price and who is buying, and it returns the total SDLT due, the effective rate, and a band-by-band breakdown.
Why the effective rate is lower than the band rate
Because only the top slice of the price is taxed at the headline rate, the effective rate — total tax divided by the whole price — is always lower than the band you "reach". A buyer in the 5% band pays 5% only on the part of the price above £250,000, not on the whole thing. That gap is the single most misunderstood part of SDLT, and it is why the calculator shows both numbers.
Stamp duty rates and bands (2025)
These are the residential SDLT rates for England and Northern Ireland in force from 1 April 2025. The "additional property" column already includes the 5% surcharge that applies to second homes and buy-to-lets across every band.
| Price band | Standard rate | First-time buyer | Additional property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% | 0% | 5% |
| £125,001 – £250,000 | 2% | 0% | 7% |
| £250,001 – £300,000 | 5% | 0% | 10% |
| £300,001 – £500,000 | 5% | 5% | 10% |
| £500,001 – £925,000 | 5% | 5%* | 10% |
| £925,001 – £1,500,000 | 10% | 10%* | 15% |
| Above £1,500,000 | 12% | 12%* | 17% |
Source: GOV.UK SDLT residential rates, effective 1 April 2025. *First-time-buyer relief only applies when the price is £500,000 or less; above that, standard rates apply to the whole price. The additional-property surcharge applies to purchases of £40,000 or more.
A worked example: stamp duty on a £350,000 home
Priya is selling her flat and buying a £350,000 house. She is replacing her main home, so the standard rates apply — no first-time-buyer relief and no second-home surcharge. She wants to know the SDLT before she budgets for the move.
Step 1 — Tax the first £125,000 at 0%
The nil-rate band covers the first £125,000, so this slice is taxed at 0% = £0.
Step 2 — Tax the next £125,000 at 2%
The slice from £125,001 to £250,000 is £125,000, taxed at 2% = £2,500.
Step 3 — Tax the remaining £100,000 at 5%
The slice from £250,001 to £350,000 is £100,000, taxed at 5% = £5,000.
Step 4 — Add the bands up
£0 + £2,500 + £5,000 = £7,500 total SDLT. Divided by the £350,000 price, that is an effective rate of about 2.14% — far below the 5% band Priya "reached".
First-time buyer stamp duty relief
If everyone buying the property is a first-time buyer and intends to live in it, you can claim first-time buyer relief. A first-time buyer is someone who has never owned a residential property anywhere in the world. The relief raises the nil-rate band and softens the next band.
- 0% up to £300,000 — no SDLT at all on the first £300,000.
- 5% on £300,001 – £500,000 — only the slice above £300,000 is taxed.
- No relief above £500,000 — if the price is more than £500,000 the relief is lost completely and standard rates apply to the whole price.
The £500,000 cliff edge matters. A first-time buyer paying £500,000 owes £10,000 (5% on the £200,000 above £300,000). Pay £1 more and the relief vanishes, so the bill jumps to the standard £15,000. Buying at or just under £500,000 is worth far more than it looks.
Stamp duty on a second home or buy-to-let
Buying a property that means you will own more than one usually triggers the higher rates for additional dwellings — a surcharge added on top of the standard rates. This catches second homes, holiday homes and buy-to-let investments. The surcharge applies from the first pound of the price, on purchases of £40,000 or more.
The surcharge is now 5%
In the Autumn 2024 Budget the surcharge rose from 3% to 5%, effective 31 October 2024. It adds five percentage points to every band: the 0% band becomes 5%, the 2% band becomes 7%, the 5% band becomes 10%, and so on. That is why a £350,000 second home costs £25,000 in SDLT versus £7,500 as a main home.
When you can reclaim it
If you buy your new main home before selling your old one, you pay the surcharge up front. But if you sell the previous main residence within 36 months, you can apply to HMRC for a refund of the extra 5%. Replacing your only or main home is not an "additional" purchase, even if there is a brief overlap.
When do you pay stamp duty?
SDLT is due on completion — the day the money changes hands and the property becomes yours. You must file an SDLT return and pay HMRC within 14 days of completion. In practice your conveyancing solicitor handles both: they collect the SDLT from you at completion and submit the return on your behalf.
- Budget for it early. SDLT is a cash cost on top of the deposit and fees — it cannot be added to the mortgage, so have it ready before completion.
- It is the buyer who pays. The seller never pays SDLT; the liability sits entirely with the purchaser.
- Below the nil-rate band you still may need to file. If the price is above £40,000 a return is generally required even when no tax is due.
England & NI vs Scotland and Wales
SDLT only covers England and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Wales run their own property-transaction taxes, with different names, bands and thresholds. This calculator is for England and NI; use the right tool for the country your property is in.
| Country | Tax | Nil-rate band (main home) |
|---|---|---|
| England & Northern Ireland | Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) | Up to £125,000 |
| Scotland | Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT) | Up to £145,000 |
| Wales | Land Transaction Tax (LTT) | Up to £225,000 |
LBTT is administered by Revenue Scotland and LTT by the Welsh Revenue Authority; both use their own banded scales. Figures shown for general orientation — confirm current thresholds with each authority.
Stamp duty definitions
How accurate is this stamp duty calculator?
The band math is exact. For a standard, first-time or additional-property purchase in England or Northern Ireland, the slice-by-slice calculation matches GOV.UK's own figures to the pound. You can cross-check any result against the official GOV.UK SDLT rates.
What it does not model are the less common cases: the 2% non-UK-resident surcharge, mixed-use and non-residential rates, linked transactions, multiple-dwellings relief, leasehold premiums and shared-ownership staircasing. Rates and thresholds also change at Budgets — the figures here are those in force from 1 April 2025. Treat the result as a reliable planning estimate, then have your conveyancing solicitor confirm the exact liability before you complete.
Frequently asked questions about the free Stamp Duty (SDLT) calculator
About this Stamp Duty (SDLT) calculator
This calculator runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored. It applies the band-by-band SDLT scale for residential property in England and Northern Ireland, using the rates in force from 1 April 2025, and shows the tax on each slice of the price so you can see exactly how the total is built.
It is a planning estimate, not tax advice: confirm the figure with your conveyancing solicitor and the current rates on GOV.UK before you complete. Explore more tax calculators or browse the full set of free calculators.