Stamp Duty Wales Free Calculator: Land Transaction Tax (LTT)
How much stamp duty will you pay in Wales? Enter your purchase price below and you will have the answer in seconds, worked out with the current Welsh Government main and higher residential rates.
Source: Welsh Government Land Transaction Tax rates and bands for main and higher residential rates.
In Wales, stamp duty is called Land Transaction Tax, or LTT for short. Wales used to share the Stamp Duty system used in England and Northern Ireland but it brought in its own system as of April 2018, with its own bands, its own rates and no separate first-time buyer relief. The calculator above covers both the main rates and the higher rates for second homes and buy-to-let.
How Land Transaction Tax Is Calculated
Like stamp duty in England, you do not pay one rate on the whole price. The price is cut into slices, and each slice is taxed at its own rate. On your main home, the first slice up to £225,000 is tax free, the next slice up to £400,000 is taxed at 6%, and the slices above that at 7.5%, 10% and 12%.
Take a £250,000 home. The first £225,000 costs nothing and the final £25,000 is taxed at 6% (£1,500). Total LTT: £1,500. The calculator above shows this slice-by-slice breakdown for your own price.
The £225,000 threshold, plus the fact that many areas in Wales are cheaper than the UK average, means plenty of buyers of lower-priced Welsh homes pay little or no tax at all.
Main Residential LTT Rates in Wales
These are the main residential rates, in place since 10 October 2022, when the tax-free threshold rose from £180,000 to £225,000 and the 6% band was introduced.
| Property or Lease Premium / Transfer Value | LTT Rate |
|---|---|
| Less than £225,000 | 0% |
| £225,000 up to £400,000 | 6% |
| £400,000 up to £750,000 | 7.5% |
| £750,000 up to £1,500,000 | 10% |
| Over £1,500,000 | 12% |
Higher Residential LTT Rates: Second Homes and Buy-to-Let
Second homes, buy-to-let purchases and company purchases pay the higher residential rates instead. These start at 5% from the very first pound, with no tax-free threshold, and have applied at the rates below since 11 December 2024.
| Property or Lease Premium / Transfer Value | LTT Rate |
|---|---|
| Less than £180,000 | 5% |
| £180,000 up to £250,000 | 8.5% |
| £250,000 up to £400,000 | 10% |
| £400,000 up to £750,000 | 12.5% |
| £750,000 up to £1,500,000 | 15% |
| Over £1,500,000 | 17% |
The gap between the two sets of rates is bigger than in England. On the same £250,000 home, a main-residence buyer pays £1,500, while an investor pays £14,950: 5% on the first £180,000 (£9,000) plus 8.5% on the remaining £70,000 (£5,950). Pricing that in early is standard practice, alongside the other typical costs for buy-to-let landlords, and it is one of the first numbers to check on any investment property in Wales.
Who Pays LTT and When?
You pay Land Transaction Tax when you buy a freehold property, buy a new or existing leasehold, or are transferred land or property in exchange for payment, for example when you take on a mortgage or buy a share in a house.
Even property buyers purchasing properties in some of the cheapest parts of Wales may still have to pay stamp duty.
First-time buyers and home movers living in the property as their main home pay the main residential rates. Property investors, companies, buy-to-let landlords, overseas investors and second-home owners pay the higher residential rates. It applies everywhere in Wales, whether you are a landlord buying a buy-to-let in Rhyl or an investor buying a run-down house in Swansea.
LTT is a self-assessed tax collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority, and it is the taxpayer's responsibility to file an accurate return and pay what is due. In practice it is handled at the conveyancing stage, and your conveyancer will make the payment for you.
When Are You Entitled to an LTT Refund?
The most common case: you buy your next main home before your old one has sold, perhaps to secure a discounted property that needed a quick purchase. That leaves you owning two properties on completion day, so the higher rates apply. Sell the old home within the time limit and you can claim the difference back. The full list of situations is entitled to refunds on the Welsh Government website here.
If the property is derelict and unsuitable as a dwelling at the time of purchase you may also be entitled to a refund. That one matters when buying empty homes. Many local authorities provide empty-home grants, and for investors hunting them we have collected the grant lists by region (England so far, with Wales to follow). Tax is only one line in the sums; our property investments guides put prices, rents and yields alongside it for towns across Wales and the UK:
- North West England Empty Home Grants
- East Midlands Empty Home Grants
- West Midlands Empty Home Grants
- London Empty Home Grants
England, Northern Ireland and Scotland
LTT only applies in Wales. The rest of the UK charges its own property purchase taxes, with different names, bands and rates, so use the right calculator for the property's location:
- England & Northern Ireland Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) Calculator
- Scotland Stamp Duty: Land & Building Transaction Tax (LBTT) Calculator
Welsh LTT FAQs
How much is stamp duty in Wales?
On your main home, nothing below £225,000, then 6% on the slice to £400,000, 7.5% to £750,000, 10% to £1.5 million and 12% above that. Second homes and buy-to-let pay the higher rates, which start at 5% from the first pound. The calculator above gives you the exact figure.
Do first-time buyers pay stamp duty in Wales?
Wales has no separate first-time buyer relief. Instead, the £225,000 tax-free threshold applies to everyone buying a main home, so a first-time buyer purchasing below £225,000 pays nothing at all.
What counts as a higher-rate purchase?
Buying a property when you already own another one, unless you are replacing your main home. That covers second homes, holiday homes, buy-to-let and purchases made through a company.
Can I get an LTT refund?
Sometimes. The usual case is paying the higher rates because your old home had not yet sold, then selling it within the time limit. Derelict properties judged unsuitable as a dwelling at purchase can also qualify. Both routes are claimed through the Welsh Revenue Authority, and the refund section above has the links.
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