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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Comment
Jack Kessler

OPINION - Everyone agrees stamp duty is a terrible tax. So why are we stuck with it?

Paul Johnson
Stamp Duty - (PA Archive)

How are you coping? I'm absolutely fine, which is why I've dedicated my afternoon and the next 440 words to stamp duty land tax.

Stamp duty was introduced in England in 1694 as a temporary measure to finance war with France. It proved so successful as a revenue raiser that it has been around ever since. The only problem is, to use a technical term, it is a simply *terrible* tax. Don't just take my word for it. The Institute for Fiscal Studies' Paul Johnson despises it too.

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