Stamp duty for a limited company
£102,000
for a limited company buying a £600,000 home with no relief, 17% of the whole price
- Relief claimed
- £50,000
- Non-UK company, no relief
- £114,000
- An individual buying it as an additional home
- £50,000
A limited company buying a home in England and Northern Ireland for more than £500,000 pays 17% of the whole price, unless it claims a relief such as letting the property out as part of a rental business. With a relief, or at £500,000 or less, it pays the higher rates for additional properties, 5 percentage points on top of every band from £40,000, whether or not it owns anything else. On a £600,000 home that is £102,000 with no relief and £50,000 with one, and a company never gets first-time buyer relief. Flat rate in force from 31 October 2024, checked 13 September 2026.
These figures assume a company buying one home outright for itself, not as a trustee and not as a partner in a partnership, and a home that is not let on a lease with more than 21 years left.
Work out a company purchase
Change the price, whether a relief is claimed and where the company is resident.
Stamp duty to pay
£102,000
17% of the price
- Flat rate, 17% of the whole price
- £102,000
- Stamp duty to pay
- £102,000
- The flat rate of 17% applies to the whole price because it is above £500,000 and no relief is claimed.
The flat rate against a relief on £600,000
Without a relief the flat rate replaces the bands entirely. With one, the company pays the higher rates for additional properties, band by band.
A limited company set up to hold property, often called an SPV (special purpose vehicle), is taxed exactly as below. Stamp duty has no separate category for an SPV: it is a limited company like any other.
| Portion of the price | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| The whole £600,000 | 17% | £102,000 |
| Stamp duty | £102,000 |
| Portion of the price | Rate | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| Up to £125,000 | 0% | £0 |
| £125,001 to £250,000 | 2% | £2,500 |
| £250,001 to £600,000 | 5% | £17,500 |
| Additional property surcharge, on the whole price | 5% | £30,000 |
| Stamp duty | £50,000 |
The relief is worth £52,000 here. Of the £50,000 a relieved company still pays, £30,000 is the higher-rate part, which a company pays whether or not it owns anything else.
Every company situation at £600,000
| Company | Stamp duty | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|
| UK company, no relief | £102,000 | 17% |
| UK company claiming a relief | £50,000 | 8.33% |
| Non-UK company, no relief | £114,000 | 19% |
| Non-UK company claiming a relief | £62,000 | 10.33% |
A company that is not UK resident adds 2 percentage points to whichever rate applies, including the flat rate. A company registered in the UK can count as non-resident too, if it is a close company controlled from outside the UK: SDLTM09900: non-resident surcharge, non-resident companies.
What happens at £500,000
The flat rate applies only above £500,000. At exactly that price a company without a relief pays the higher rates, £40,000. One pound more and 17% applies to the whole price, so the bill becomes £85,000.17.
- At £500,000
- £40,000
- One pound more
- £85,000.17
- The jump
- £45,000.17
At the bottom of the table, the higher rates start at £40,000: a company buying for £39,999 pays £0, and at £40,000 it pays £2,000.
Reliefs from the flat rate
A company escapes the flat rate when it buys the home only for one of the purposes the rules allow, and nobody connected to the company is going to live in it:
- Letting it out as part of a property rental business.
- Developing or redeveloping it to sell or let.
- Selling it on as stock of a property trading business.
- Opening it to the public as part of a trade.
- Narrower cases such as homes for employees, farmhouses and housing co-operatives.
The relief is claimed on the return, and it is withdrawn if the conditions stop being met within three years. A relieved company pays the higher rates instead of the flat rate, never the ordinary rates.
SDLTM09555: relief from the single rate for property rental businesses; the full list is on Stamp Duty Land Tax: corporate bodies.
After you buy: the annual tax on enveloped dwellings
Stamp duty's flat rate tests the price the company pays, above £500,000. The annual tax on enveloped dwellings (ATED) is a separate yearly tax that tests the home's value instead: it can apply to a home held by a company, a partnership with a company as a partner or a collective investment scheme, when the home has a taxable value of more than £500,000. A property rental business letting the home commercially, to people not connected with the company, can claim relief, but a relief declaration return is still due each year, by 30 April for a home held on 1 April.
Other deadlines apply if the company buys during the year: Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings: returns. The basics are on Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings.
Contracts exchanged before the rate rose
The flat rate has been 17% since 31 October 2024. A company whose contract was exchanged before 31 October 2024, and not varied, assigned or sub-sold on or after that date, still pays 15%: £90,000 on a £600,000 home rather than £102,000.
What this calculator does not cover
A company acting as a trustee, a partnership with a company as a partner and a collective investment scheme follow their own rules. So does a company buying mixed-use property worth more than the flat-rate threshold without a relief, which the commercial property page explains. A new lease granted to a company is the other case the calculator leaves to the official guidance:
This calculator cannot give a figure for this purchase
A new lease of a dwelling granted to a company is taxed at the flat rate on the premium and separately on the rent, which this calculator does not model.
Buying this to let?
The £30,000 of higher-rate stamp duty is the first of several tax jobs on a rental property, and the only one you pay up front. After it come the rental income, the quarterly updates and eventually the gain on sale. TapTax tracks rental income and files quarterly MTD updates to HMRC.
Start tracking rental income free- Rental income calculator
What the rent is worth after tax, mortgage interest relief and expenses.
- Making Tax Digital for landlords
When quarterly filing starts for property income, and what it asks of you.
- Capital gains calculator
What the tax looks like when you come to sell.
Where to go next
- Second home and buy-to-let
The higher rates for an individual buying an additional home.
- Commercial and mixed-use property
The non-residential rates, leases and rent.
- All stamp duty rates
The bands, the thresholds and every price page.
- Residential stamp duty calculator
Any home bought by an individual, with the band breakdown.
Limited company stamp duty questions
How much stamp duty does a limited company pay?
It depends on the price and on whether a relief applies. Above £500,000 a company pays 17% of the whole price unless it claims a relief. With a relief, or at £500,000 or less, it pays the higher rates for additional properties, which add 5 percentage points to every band from the first pound once the price reaches £40,000. On a £600,000 home that is £102,000 with no relief and £50,000 with one.
Does this apply to an SPV?
Yes. An SPV is not a separate category for stamp duty: it is a limited company, so everything on this page applies to it. An SPV buying a home to let as part of a property rental business can claim the relief from the 17% flat rate and pays the higher rates instead: £50,000 rather than £102,000 on a £600,000 home.
Do limited companies pay the second home surcharge?
Yes, from £40,000. A company is within the higher rates whether or not it owns any other property, and the exception for replacing a main residence never applies to a company. Below £40,000 it pays the ordinary rates.
Which reliefs take a company out of the 17% rate?
Buying the home to let it out as part of a property rental business, to develop or redevelop it for sale, to sell it on as a property trader, or to open it to the public as part of a trade, and a few narrower cases such as homes for employees, farmhouses and housing co-operatives. The relief is claimed on the return and is withdrawn if the conditions stop being met within three years. A relieved company pays the higher rates instead: £50,000 rather than £102,000 on a £600,000 home.
Can a limited company claim first-time buyer relief?
No. First-time buyer relief is only for individuals, and everyone buying has to qualify, so a purchase by a company never gets it at any price.
Does a company based outside the UK pay more?
Yes. A company that is not UK resident for stamp duty adds 2 percentage points to whichever rate applies, so the flat rate becomes 19% of the whole price and every higher-rate band rises by the same amount. A company registered in the UK can count as non-resident too, if it is a close company controlled from outside the UK. On a £600,000 home a non-resident company pays £114,000 with no relief and £62,000 with one.
Was the company rate 15% before?
Yes, until 30 October 2024. It has been 17% since 31 October 2024. A company whose contract was exchanged before that date, and not varied, assigned or sub-sold afterwards, still pays 15%: £90,000 rather than £102,000 on a £600,000 home.
Is it cheaper to buy a buy-to-let through a limited company?
For the stamp duty alone, no. A company claiming the property rental business relief pays the same higher rates as an individual buying an additional property, £50,000 on a £600,000 home, and a company without a relief pays £102,000. Whether a company makes sense depends on how the rent and the eventual sale are taxed, which is a question for an accountant.
Does this cover Scotland and Wales?
No. These are Stamp Duty Land Tax rules, which apply in England and Northern Ireland only. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax, each with its own bands and its own rules for companies, leases and shared ownership.
Where these figures come from
SDLT rates in force from 1 April 2025, checked against GOV.UK on 12 September 2026.
These figures are estimates for a company buying one home outright, and whether a relief applies is a fact of your company's plans that HMRC can review. Your solicitor files the return, and HMRC publishes the rules for companies.
Official pages behind this page
- Stamp Duty Land Tax: corporate bodies on GOV.UK, checked 13 September 2026
- SDLTM09505: the single rate for non-natural persons on HMRC, checked 13 September 2026
- SDLTM09555: relief from the single rate for property rental businesses on HMRC, checked 13 September 2026
- SDLTM09835: higher rates, purchases by companies and other non-individuals on HMRC, checked 13 September 2026
- SDLTM09900: non-resident surcharge, non-resident companies on HMRC, checked 13 September 2026
- SDLTM09726: transitional provisions, 15% to 17% on HMRC, checked 13 September 2026