Stamping out stamp duty

It's about time the stamp duty on property was revised, although Calton tends to agree with Stephen O'Neill of Newton Property, Glasgow, who advocated a tax on profit when you sell rather than a tax when you purchase on today's John Beattie show. Interesting idea, however it looks like John Swinney is going to stay with taxing buyers, albeit on a sliding scale rather than the current system which involves a step change at certain values, with a knock-on effect on the market around those prices. Calton is not sure how much the change will help first-time buyers outside of the Capital given that most will be looking to spend under the current limit of £125k rather than the new proposed threshold for the tax at £180k, however the measure will help lower income home owners to move tax-free and will also benefit pensioners downsizing to smaller properties below the new threshold. It's definitely an improvement on the old system and, since Calton is not a property millionaire, or even a semi-millionaire, he is seriously considering delaying his next property move until after the introduction in 2015.