Sajid Javid backtracks on Stamp Duty proposal

The current Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid has backtracked on proposals made by PM Boris Johnson in his Tory leadership campaign to make Stamp Duty payable by the seller rather than the purchaser of a property.

In an interview given to the Times newspaper Javid said: “I’m looking at various options. I’m a low tax guy. I want to see simpler taxes.” He then followed that up with a Tweet saying “More speculation about stamp duty this morning. To be clear, I never said to the Times I was planning to put it on sellers, and I wouldn’t support that. I know from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government that we need bold measures on housing, but this isn’t one of them.”

The now obviously off the cuff plan muted by Boris was to cut the highest rate of Stamp Duty from 12% to 7%, and even doing away with it altogether for properties under £500,000 whilst reversing the tax to be paid by purchasers rather than sellers.

These plans have been widely criticised by the industry and politicians as ill thought through and potentially leading to stalling the market with vendors and purchasers waiting to see what happens. Government should not add to current uncertainty and confirm what they are going to do rather than what they are thinking they might.