SNP tax shake-up plans would axe stamp duty

THOUSANDS of Scottish housebuyers could pay less tax on property purchases after Finance Secretary John Swinney unveiled his planned replacement for stamp duty.

The bid to kickstart the housing market was revealed as plans to revamp tax collection north of the Border were announced.

The move would mean people buying homes valued at less than £180,000 would no longer have to pay stamp duty.

Mr Swinney announced plans to set up the new national tax-collection agency, Revenue Scotland – the first body since the Act of Union in 1707 to be allowed to raise taxes countrywide.

It will collect two new taxes from April 2015, he said.

Under the scheme, stamp duty – the tax paid by home buyers – would be replaced by a land and buildings transaction tax and a disposal of waste by landfill tax will also be created.

Mr Swinney announced the proposals at Holyrood after the new powers were granted by the UK Government as part of the passage into law of the Scotland Act 2012.

He said: “Today we have taken the first step toward the setting and collecting of taxes in Scotland and to doing so better and at less cost than the UK Government.”

He plans to wipe out the 1% tax for properties valued at less than £180,000, in a move designed to make it easier for people to get on the property ladder.

Buyers of properties valued at less than £325,000 will also see a tax “decrease”.