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Stamp duty receipts reached nearly £13.2bn last year
Stamp duty receipts in 2021 hit almost £13.2bn the highest ever for a calendar year, with over £1.7bn in December alone, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
According to HMRC, the previous record for stamp duty receipts for a calendar year was £13bn in 2017.
Against, 2020, total receipts were £8.6bn and in 2019 total stamp duty receipts totalled £11.7bn.
Stamp duty receipts in December came to £1.7bn, which is up 44 per cent on the prior month and more than a third higher than December 2019.
HMRC said that the strong December receipts can be attributed to “continued growth” in stamp duty transactions and a “normal surge” of property sales ahead of Christmas.
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The report added that there had also been a large fall in transaction numbers in the first two weeks of January.
Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry Building Society, said 2021 was a “very lucrative year” for the Treasury despite the stamp duty holiday ending in September.
He said: “With receipts last year at their highest ever, the property market has clearly weathered the storm of the last couple of years.”
He added that he would expect to see a “more steady level of activity” in the coming year, with house prices remaining high and lack of housing stock meaning HMRC will bring a “healthy amount of revenue” from stamp duty.
Stinton said: “Of course, it’s not such good news for homebuyers; with general living costs on the rise, a stamp duty bill will be an unwelcome, and in some cases prohibitive, additional cost.”