When I was buying my first house in 1994, I paid no stamp duty as the house price was less than £60,000. My next property which I moved in 2006 was worth more than £60,000, but yet again I avoided paying any stamp duty land tax as the purchase price was less then £125,000. I was pleasantly surprised when the government yet again moved SDLT threshold to £175,000. However, this would only apply until September 2009. I hope it was done for the right reasons and not just to gain popular votes. I also hope that come September, the above threshold will stay the same or will go up even more at least for the first time buyers. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve nothing against paying tax, but is seems so unfair that the buyer, having paid his legal expenses, mortgage fees, survey fees, etc, has to pay duty on the property he purchased. It would be interesting to know other members views on this subject. Do we really need stamp duty tax?

That's quite interesting, Mary Poppins! As a home owner and a tax payer, i pay enough as it is and would welcome any move towards doing away with the stamp duty land tax. But, as usual, government wants a slice of the purchase pie. Afterall, it's a nice little earner for them, especially when the house market is thriving!

It would be interesting to know what is the amount collected annually in stamp duty taxes. does anyone know?