An analysis of HMRC data conducted by Coventry Building Society showed last year’s total intake of £13.1bn had been surpassed by October 2022.
In November alone, stamp duty payments came to £1.3bn which was an 11 per cent increase on last year. This was also despite the new stamp duty threshold which was introduced in September’s mini Budget and applies to properties with a value of £250,000 for all buyers, instead of the previous £125,000.
Apart from January where the total amounted to £944m, stamp duty receipts have exceeded £1.2bn every month in 2022.
Figures revealed by HMRC today showed that from the start of the tax year in April to November 2022, receipts for stamp duty came to £14bn, which was £2.2bn higher than the same period last year.
Climbing house prices causing higher taxes
Jonathan Stinton, head of intermediary relationships at Coventry Building Society, said as the record was only based on the first 11 months of the year, December’s numbers were bound to set a “staggering” record for property tax.
He added: “The new thresholds reduce the tax bill for homebuyers, and that’s certainly welcomed, but it’s arguable that the measures haven’t gone far enough. Before the thresholds were amended buying the average priced home in England came with a tax bill of £5,767, that’s now reduced to £3,303 but it’s still more than double the £1,566 it was in 2014 when the previous thresholds were set.
“The stamp duty bill on an average priced home doubling in less than a decade shows the government still has work to do if its going to stop homebuyers being squeezed too far by the taxman.
“By deciding to make the new thresholds temporary, and not introduce incentives for energy-efficient home improvements, the Chancellor has created a potential problem that will concern those looking to own property in the future.”
Inheritance tax intake on track for record
The receipts for inheritance tax (IHT) showed that this was also reaching record levels. HMRC’s data revealed this had reached £4.8bn between April and November, which is £600m higher than in the same period a year earlier.
For the year so far, IHT intake totalled 6.2bn compared to £5.5bn last year.
In November alone, this reached £673m, a rise on the previous month’s £580m and up on 2021’s £500m. HMRC said the rise was due to a small number of higher value payments.
Andrew Tully, technical director at Canada Life, said: “The latest IHT receipts shows we are on for a record breaking year. With thresholds frozen until at least April 2028, more estates will be coming in from the cold and will likely be caught in this widening tax net, and this is despite predicted house price falls in 2023.”
Rachael Griffin, tax and financial planning specialist at Quilter, added: “IHT is fast becoming a profitable area for the government, largely due to the rapid rise in house prices seen in recent years causing more people to tip over the threshold.
“Given IHT thresholds have already been frozen, more and more people will already be dragged into paying what is often regarded as one of the nation’s most hated taxes, let alone if pensions were to be brought into the mix. IHT has traditionally been viewed as a tax on wealthier individuals, but the number of people caught in the IHT net has been rising steadily for some time now and this number will only continue to rise as we move further into the freeze.”
