Updated to 1 April 2025 SDLT rates
Limited Company Stamp Duty Calculator
Stamp Duty when a limited company or other non-natural person buys residential property in England or Northern Ireland: flat 17% (was 15% before 1 April 2025) on the entire price above £500,000, plus the +5% surcharge on smaller purchases.
- Purchase price (93.3%)
- SDLT (6.7%)
SDLT adds about 7.1% on top of the purchase price.
| Purchase price | £350,000 |
|---|---|
| Additional-property: 5% band | |
| £125,000 at 5% | £6,250 |
| Additional-property: 7% band | |
| £125,000 at 7% | £8,750 |
| Additional-property: 10% band | |
| £100,000 at 10% | £10,000 |
| Total SDLT | £25,000 |
| Total cash required | £375,000 |
Information
When a limited company (or any "non-natural person") buys residential property in England or Northern Ireland, two regimes apply depending on price. Above £500,000: a flat 17% rate (was 15% before 1 April 2025) on the entire purchase price, a substantial premium designed to discourage corporate ownership of residential property. At or below £500,000: standard rates plus the +5% additional-property surcharge (companies always count as additional-property buyers). Exemptions exist for genuine property rental and development businesses, but these aren't modelled here.
What's modelled. The corporate flat rate above £500,000 (17% from 1 April 2025, 15% before that), the standard residential rates with +5% surcharge below £500,000, and the date-dependent rate changes since the September 2022 mini-budget.
The threshold matters. At exactly £500,000 the corporate buyer pays the banded rate (£40,000 with the +5% surcharge at post-Apr-2025 rates). At £500,001 (£1 over) they pay the flat 17% on the entire purchase price: £85,000.17. That's a £45,000 cliff edge purely from passing the threshold. Try entering both numbers in the calculator to see the jump.
Exemptions. A property-rental business, property-development trade, or employer providing accommodation to qualifying employees can claim exemption and pay the normal banded rate with the additional-property surcharge instead of the flat rate. The tests are specific and have to be defended to HMRC; treat this as consult-an-accountant territory.
Planner handoff. The "Open full planner" CTA you'd see on the canonical SDLT calculator is hidden here because the planner's Property module doesn't model corporate ownership today. The SDLT figure above is correct; save the page or copy the URL if you need to revisit later.
What's not. Scotland and Wales have their own corporate-purchase regimes; dedicated calculators coming soon. The non-UK resident +2% surcharge, mixed-use property, and the specific exemption-claim tests are all out of scope.
FAQ
- Why is the corporate rate so high?
HMRC introduced the flat 15% rate in 2014 (raised to 17% from 1 April 2025) specifically to discourage owning residential property through corporate structures: a tactic previously used to avoid SDLT entirely on subsequent share transfers. The rate is punitive on purpose. Genuine property businesses (rental, development, employee accommodation) can claim exemption and pay normal rates plus the additional-property surcharge, but for personal investment vehicles the flat rate stands.
- What if I'm a first-time buyer?
If your purchase price is £500,000 or less and neither you nor any joint buyer has ever owned residential property anywhere in the world, you pay 0% on the first £300,000 and 5% on the slice between £300,001 and £500,000. Above £500,000 the relief disappears completely: you pay the standard rates on the whole amount. (For purchases between 23 Sep 2022 and 31 Mar 2025 the thresholds were £425,000 and £625,000 respectively; change the completion date to see.)
- What counts as an "additional property"?
Any residential property you'll own at completion that isn't your main residence: buy-to-let, holiday homes, and accidental-landlord cases (you're keeping your old flat while moving). The +5% surcharge (was +3% before 31 October 2024) applies to every band of the standard schedule. The surcharge does NOT apply when you're genuinely replacing your only main residence and selling the previous one within 3 years; you can claim a refund if the sale completes after the new purchase.
- Do I pay SDLT in Scotland or Wales?
No. Scotland has Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT); Wales has Land Transaction Tax (LTT). Use the region selector at the top of this page to switch between them. All three are tiered like SDLT but with different bands, rates, and reliefs.
- Why is the corporate rate so high?
When a limited company (or any "non-natural person" such as a partnership with corporate members, collective investment scheme) buys residential property worth more than £500,000, HMRC applies a flat 17% rate (was 15% before 1 April 2025) on the entire purchase price. The rate exists to discourage owning residential property through corporate structures, previously a tactic for avoiding SDLT on subsequent share transfers. Genuine property-rental, property-development, and employee-accommodation providers can claim exemption and pay normal rates plus the additional-property surcharge, but those tests aren't modelled in this calc.
Recent changes
-
Thresholds reverted to pre-2022 levels. Residential nil-rate band dropped from £250,000 back to £125,000, with a new 2% band added to £250,000. First-time buyer relief tightened: nil-rate ceiling reverted to £300,000 and the property-price cap to £500,000 (down from £425,000 / £625,000). Corporate flat rate for residential purchases over £500,000 raised from 15% to 17%.
-
Autumn Budget: additional-property surcharge raised from +3% to +5% on every band of the standard residential schedule. Applied to second homes, buy-to-let, and any purchase where the buyer owns two or more residential properties at completion.
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Mini-budget: residential nil-rate band raised from £125,000 to £250,000. First-time buyer relief expanded: nil-rate ceiling raised to £425,000 with the property-price cap raised to £625,000 (from £300,000 / £500,000). The corporate flat rate stayed at 15% and the additional-property surcharge stayed at +3%; both rose later.
Sources
Disclaimer
Not financial, legal, or tax advice. Figures are computed from the legislative tables published by HMRC and do not account for corporate-exemption tests (property rental business, property development trade, employer-provided accommodation), multiple- dwellings relief, group relief, or anti-avoidance rules. Corporate property purchases have substantial tax + reporting consequences beyond SDLT; consult a property solicitor and accountant for the authoritative figure on your specific purchase.
