The tax income was affected by a fall in property sales and uncertainties surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as the stamp duty holiday announced in July.
Following the reopening of the property market in May, receipts for stamp duty totalled £361m compared to £831m the year before. As pent-up sales caused a rebound in activity, June generated £573m in stamp duty, down from £831m in the previous year.
Once the stamp duty holiday had been announced, receipts in July nearly halved from £1.1bn in 2019 to £656m in 2020.
December saw the highest income from the property tax, totalling £1.2bn. Compared to December 2019, this was only slightly down from £1.3bn.
Receipts fell to £579m in January before picking up in February to £775m, representing relatively minimal drops on £777m and £824m in the respective previous months the year before.
Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry Building Society, said: “The stamp duty holiday has really helped to fuel the market over the past few months.
“However, the average home buyer isn’t going to have contributed one penny in stamp duty. These numbers are a sign of a healthy market across the board, where higher value homes, second homes and rental properties are also exchanging hands.”
