"Stamp duty" is really three separate taxes wearing one nickname. England and Northern Ireland kept Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). Scotland replaced it in 2015 with Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT). Wales followed in 2018 with Land Transaction Tax (LTT). All three are "slice" taxes — you pay each rate only on the portion of the price within its band — but the bands, the reliefs and the second-home surcharges differ enough to swing your bill by thousands.
Let's anchor everything to one purchase — a £300,000 home — and look at it through three lenses: a home mover, a first-time buyer, and someone buying an additional property.
The headline: a £300,000 home, three nations
For a straightforward home mover the three are remarkably close — between £4,500 and £5,000. The drama is all in the additional-property surcharge: England adds 5% on top, Wales uses higher bands, but Scotland levies a flat 8% on the entire price, pushing the bill to £28,600 — over £8,000 more than anywhere else.
First-time buyers: where the gap is widest
If you're buying your first home, the nations diverge sharply. England offers the most generous relief by far; Wales offers none at all.
A first-time buyer's £300,000 home is tax-free in England, £4,000 in Scotland and £4,500 in Wales — for exactly the same property.
The rate bands, side by side
Here's what actually drives those numbers. Note how the tax-free starting band differs — and how Wales has no special first-time buyer treatment at all.
| Portion of price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% |
| £125,001 – £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 – £925,000 | 5% |
| £925,001 – £1.5m | 10% |
| Over £1.5m | 12% |
| Portion of price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £145,000 | 0% |
| £145,001 – £250,000 | 2% |
| £250,001 – £325,000 | 5% |
| £325,001 – £750,000 | 10% |
| Over £750,000 | 12% |
| Portion of price | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to £225,000 | 0% |
| £225,001 – £400,000 | 6% |
| £400,001 – £750,000 | 7.5% |
| £750,001 – £1.5m | 10% |
| Over £1.5m | 12% |
Wales is the outlier: a high £225,000 nil-rate band means most ordinary buyers pay little, but there's no first-time buyer relief because the threshold is already generous. England's lower £125,000 start is offset by powerful first-time buyer relief (0% up to £300,000, then 5% to £500,000).
The full picture on £300,000
| Nation | Home mover | First-time buyer | Additional property |
|---|---|---|---|
| England & NI | £5,000 | £0 | £20,000 |
| Scotland | £4,600 | £4,000 | £28,600 |
| Wales | £4,500 | £4,500 | £19,950 |
Get the exact figure for your purchase
Pick the right calculator for where you're buying — each handles first-time buyer relief and the additional-property surcharge automatically.
England & NI (SDLT) →Three things people get wrong
- "It's all the same tax." It isn't — different government, different bands, different reliefs. Always use the calculator for the nation you're buying in, not the one you live in.
- The surcharge can apply even on your main home. If you haven't sold your previous home by completion, the additional-property rates usually apply — though you can often reclaim later. On £300,000 in Scotland that's £24,000 of cash you need upfront.
- First-time buyer relief has limits. Over a price cap (£500,000 in England) the relief vanishes entirely, and it's lost if anyone buying has ever owned property anywhere in the world.
The bottom line
For ordinary movers, where you buy barely changes the tax. For first-time buyers and second-home buyers it changes everything — a swing of thousands on an identical property. Always budget from the correct nation's rules, and remember the surcharge is a cash-flow problem as much as a tax one. Figures here are illustrative for 2026/27; confirm the current rates and your own position before you commit.