Free tool for UK landlords
Work out SDLT, LBTT or LTT across England & NI, Scotland and Wales, including the additional-property surcharge, with the band by band breakdown.
Enter a property price to see your estimated stamp duty
Information, not tax advice. BTL Insight is not a tax adviser. This calculator estimates the tax from the standard published rates (verified June 2026) and cannot account for every relief, exemption or special case, such as multiple-dwellings relief, mixed-use property, linked transactions, or certain corporate purchases. Rates can change at any Budget. For the official rules and your own situation, check HMRC, Revenue Scotland or the Welsh Revenue Authority, and speak to a qualified tax adviser or solicitor before relying on any figure.
The figures and rules below summarise the official guidance from HMRC (SDLT), Revenue Scotland (LBTT) and the Welsh Revenue Authority (LTT). It is general information to help you understand how the tax works, not personal tax advice.
"Stamp duty" is not one tax, each nation runs its own system, with its own thresholds and rates. The tax on an identically priced property can differ by thousands of pounds depending on where it is.
The three systems:
All three are tiered (or "progressive") taxes: you pay each rate only on the slice of the price that falls inside that band, not the whole price at one rate. That is exactly how this calculator works it out.
This is the part that matters most to landlords. If you will own more than one residential property after the purchase, an extra charge usually applies on top of the standard rates, and the three nations handle it very differently:
The surcharge normally applies to purchases of £40,000 or more, and it applies whether you buy in your personal name or through a company. Each authority publishes the exact higher rates and when they apply: HMRC higher rates, Revenue Scotland ADS and Welsh higher rates.
Stamp duty is one of the largest one-off costs of a property purchase, and the additional-property charge can easily add several thousand pounds to a buy-to-let deal. Because it is part of your total cash invested, it directly reduces your return on investment.
Always factor the full stamp duty figure into your numbers before you commit. The profit and ROI calculator includes it automatically when working out your true return, and the affordability calculator helps you size the mortgage.
Yes. If you already own another residential property anywhere in the world, an additional-property charge usually applies on top of the standard rates. In England and Northern Ireland it is a 5% surcharge added to every band; in Scotland it is the Additional Dwelling Supplement of 8% on the whole price; in Wales the higher residential rates apply. The charge normally applies to purchases of £40,000 or more.
Yes. England and Northern Ireland pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT). Scotland pays Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), with its own bands and an 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement. Wales pays Land Transaction Tax (LTT), with its own main and higher rate bands. Each nation sets its own thresholds, so the tax on the same priced property can differ significantly.
A company buying residential property normally pays the additional-property rates (the 5% surcharge in England and NI, the 8% Additional Dwelling Supplement in Scotland, or the higher rates in Wales), even if it is the company's only property. Separate rules can apply to certain high-value corporate purchases. See HMRC's guidance on SDLT for corporate bodies, and confirm your own position with a tax adviser. If you are still weighing up whether to buy in a company at all, our limited company or personal name tool walks through the trade-offs.
The surcharge generally does not apply if you are replacing your only or main residence, or if the property costs less than £40,000. If you have not sold your previous main home by completion you usually pay the surcharge, and may be able to reclaim it if you sell within the relevant time limit. The exact rules and time limits differ by nation; see HMRC's guidance on refunds of the higher rates for England and Northern Ireland, and the equivalent Revenue Scotland and Welsh Revenue Authority pages.
Not for a normal residential buy to let. Under HMRC's rules a company pays the higher additional-property rates on any residential property of £40,000 or more, even its first and only property, and there is no first-time buyer relief for companies. Little or no stamp duty tends to arise only in specific cases, such as a property under £40,000, a genuinely non-residential or mixed-use property taxed at commercial rates, or six or more dwellings bought together. The detail sits in HMRC's guidance on SDLT for corporate bodies; for your own situation, check with a tax adviser.
Buying a buy to let as your first property can cost you later. You permanently lose first-time buyer relief, because a first-time buyer must never have owned any property. And when you buy your own home while still owning the buy to let, you will own two properties and will not be replacing a main residence, so the additional-property surcharge can apply to your home too. HMRC sets out the conditions for first-time buyer relief.