§ 10. Mr. Moateasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the yield from stamp duty on house purchase in the current financial year.
§ Mr. RidleyThe duty from residential property is expected to yield £370 million this year.
§ Mr. MoateIs my right hon. Friend aware that previous Governments have consigned to oblivion stamp duty on newspapers and cheques, for example, and yet a Government who believe in home ownership have persisted in increasing in real terms this tax on home ownership? Will the government now commit themselves to reversing the policies of previous Governments and abolish stamp duty on home ownership during this Parliament?
§ Mr. RidleyMy hon. Friend will remember that the threshold was increased by £5,000 in 1980 and increased by another £5,000 in 1982. Those increases represent a major alleviation of the tax. We cannot do without the £370 million that it raises and, as we have already heard during Question Time, there are other priorities for spending such tax concessions as the Government might be able to make.
§ Mr. BottomleyDoes my right hon. Friend agree that it would be more sensible to raise the threshold exemption on house sales and purchases rather than simply increasing the mortgage interest relief limit? Will he consider a change whereby stamp duty becomes payable by the seller, not the purchaser.
§ Mr. RidleyThere is a consultative document to which I am sure my hon. Friend would like to respond with his second suggestion. We are considering the possibility of changing from a slab to a slice system. Successive Governments have increased the threshold for stamp duty but it is 10 years since the qualifying limit for mortgage 399 interest relief was increased. I think that it was generally felt that that was the right priority this year, at least on the Conservative side of the House.