Stamp duty continues to soar – but for how much longer?
Helen Morrissey, senior pension and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, comments on the publication of the HMRC tax receipts and NI contributions, showing stamp duty continues to soar (but for how much longer?).
Key points from publication:
- Income tax and National Insurance receipts were up £17.6bn between April and July 2022.
- This is due to 874,000 more employees, the July self-assessment deadline and the increase in National Insurance.
- Stamp duty continues to soar, reaching £7bn between April and July 2022 – an increase of £1.3bn.
- Air passenger duty hit £1bn as more people went on holiday post-pandemic.
- IHT receipts hit a record high in June due to a small number of higher value payments.
Helen Morrissey says:
“High employment, a strong housing market and burgeoning holiday demand means HMRC’s tax take keeps on rising. Well over 870,000 people joined the workforce between April and July as unemployment continues to be low and we are finally starting to see the impact of April’s National Insurance hike.
“The effect of this increase could only relatively transitory though. If Liz Truss wins the Tory leadership race, she has made it clear she intends to scrap the increase as soon as possible.
“The burgeoning cost-of-living crisis has not dampened our demand for property with stamp duty receipts continuing to soar. This is reflective of lower tax rates being in play last year as the stamp duty holiday was in force.
“However, while the market has remained buoyant for some time there are at last signs it is starting to lose momentum. The rate of house price growth is slowing, and the prospect of more interest rate increases on the horizon may well cause people to shelve the idea of buying that dream home for a while.
“We have also seen an increase in air passenger duty as the holiday market finally gets going.
“It’s still way down on pre-pandemic but it is growing. However, rocketing bills are starting to bite and with the prospect of another eye wateringly high increase in energy bills later this Autumn we could see people enjoy their summer holiday and then put off any other foreign trips until further notice.”
Kindly shared by Hargreaves Lansdown
Main article photo courtesy of Pixabay
