The stamp duty cut announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in Friday's mini-budget is "embedding unfairness" for lower income households, a Welsh minister has said.
Kwasi Kwarteng today confirmed a cut to stamp duty, the tax paid when people buy a property in England and Northern Ireland. The threshold at which the tax falls due has been raised to £250,000 from its current £125,000 level. Meanwhile the threshold for first-time buyers has been increased from £300,000 to £425,000.
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The changes should remove 200,000 people from having to pay stamp duty, the Chancellor said. But in Wales, Stamp Duty is replaced by the Land Transaction Tax (LTT) which is set by the Welsh Government. A spokesman for Welsh Government said ministers will now need to look at how the raft of measures announced by Mr Kwarteng will impact the Welsh budget.
Read more: How the mini budget will affect you living in Wales
The spokesman said: "We have had no prior engagement from the UK Government on any of the changes in today’s statement. We will be looking at the detail of the UK Government’s announcements and their impact on our budget."
The current LTT threshold is:
- £180,000 for residential properties (if you do not own other property)
- £225,000 for non-residential land and property
Rebecca Evans, the minister for finance and local government in the Welsh Government, blasted the new measures as failing to provide targeted, meaningful support for those struggling to pay their bills. She said: "Today’s announcements show the UK government is heading in a deeply worrying direction, with misplaced priorities leading to a regressive statement that will embed unfairness across the United Kingdom.
"Instead of delivering meaningful, targeted support to those who need help the most, the Chancellor is prioritising funding for tax cuts for the rich, unlimited bonuses for bankers, and protecting the profits of big energy companies."
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