Do you think stamp duty will be abolished in the next budget?

[Travelcrazy]

We are just going through the process of buying a house and due to complete around the end of October, is it worth stalling by a couple of weeks to see if there are any changes because the stamp duty money would make a huge difference to us?

There is absolutely no way this government will abolish any taxes.

Not a chance. It will go up if anything.

Definitely not.
I wouldn't be surprised if it went up.
Anyone with a meagre bit of dosh (like enough to buy a house) will continue to be absolutely rinsed by this government.

Of course not!

Not a cat in hells chance

If it was abolished (VERY unlikely), it would be replaced with something that directs more of your money to the government, not less.

Exactly the same dilemma, but we are due to complete earlier than you, not set date yet but being asked for 11 September which is next week!
I asked about it on another thread and a couple of people said don't hold your sale up. We asked our solicitor who said it was up to us! We messaged our vendors (who would presumably also benefit) and they don't want to wait.
We've reluctantly decided to go with it and not wait, but I appreciate your date is much closer.
I'll be interested to see what people say on this thread.

No!

I did read an article on this as a possibility somewhere, I can't remember the exact reasoning. But if I was buying/selling I'd look into it further.

My general instinct is to not hold up a sale unless you can take or leave it. The more drastic any rule change and the more time that passes and the longer the chain, the more chance someone in it will make decisions you'd rather they didn't..! It doesn't have to be logical or predictable. A bird in the hand and all of that. Good luck!

Yep

If you need to move I'd get it done quick before all these policy drip feeds spooks your chain.

We haven't got much of a chain because our buyer is a first timer and not in a rush and we are buying from a building company that has done a part ex with our vendor. Seems most people think it will stay so will probably crack on in case they do something worse!

My exact thoughts when I read this

There’s not a chance in hell they will be letting anyone off stamp duty until they bring in something more expensive to replace it.

I would be very very surprised if it's abolished or even reduced!

No government is going to abolish a tax without having decided to replace it, probably with something more onerous. You might find, if you delay, that you’re spending more, rather than saving anything.

I doubt it. Too complicated to change it for anything else overnight

The thresholds were only changed on 1st April this year to make it so most people have to pay more stamp duty, not less. Can’t see any reason why they’d abolish it or reduce it again so soon. It’s more likely to go the other way if anything. Usually when there’s a big policy change in the offing it’s discussed by financial journalists in advance (briefed by government sources). No such discussion going on about reducing it in this budget as far as I’ve heard.

I’d be careful something more onerous doesn’t come in and kill a load of chains.

Where on earth has this come from?

Whatever they do will add more cost to you, not less. We are cracking on and want to get it done before anything changes.

There is a budget black hole they have gotten into by running out of money.

So the total tax take has got to up not down.

It's more likely they will do something like put a property tax on the rich by taxing every property say above band D to be collected through council tax. This will raise revenue while being simple to implement.

@EmeraldRoulette
I saw this from the Guardian and various other places, I have copied and pasted it because I couldnt link it.

The Treasury is considering a new tax on the sale of homes worth more than £500,000 as a step towards a radical overhaul of stamp duty and council tax, the Guardian has been told.
As the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, prepares the ground for tax rises in this autumn’s budget, senior ministers have tasked officials to study how a new “proportional” property tax could be implemented and model its impact before reporting back to ministers, who have been briefed on the proposals.

Officials are initially examining a potential national property tax, which would replace stamp duty on owner-occupied homes, sources said. They are also studying whether, after the national tax, a local property tax could then replace council tax in the medium term in an effort to repair battered local authority finances.

The below is from the BBC

Annual house price growth slowed in August as calls grow for a reform of property taxes in the Autumn budget.
The pace of UK property price rises dropped to 2.1%, according to data from lender Nationwide, while the more volatile month-on-month measure showed a 0.1% decline compared with July.
The sluggish picture has emerged as reports claim the government is considering an overhaul of stamp duty and other property taxes in a bid to raise more money and boost the housing market.

It looks like it may happen but she will claw it back somehow so I guess it could actually be worse!

There is a real possibility that Stamp Duty will be done away with as it is generally agreed that it stalls the housing market.

However, they won't do away with it overnight - most of the time any announcements at the Autumn Budget are not implemented until the start of the following tax year in April - and also it will be replaced with a tax of some other type that may prove more costly in the long run, such as the talked about property levy which may see you having to pay something like 0.5% of the purchase price every year for as long as you live there.