Stamp duty tax on pub leases starts today
Licensees taking on a new pub lease from today will have to pay the new Stamp Duty Land Tax.
The new tax will see licensees charged duty based on the length of their lease rather than one year's average rent. This will lead to a huge tax hike for licensees buying leased pubs - the British Beer & Pub Association predicts it will cost the trade an extra £11m.
Almost 80 per cent of licensees have said they would be put off from buying a new leased pub because of the hike in stamp duty costs, according to a poll on thePublican.com.
Only two per cent of respondents think it would have no impact on whether they bought a new leased pub while 19 per cent said that they would have to re-evaluate their options.
Under the current system a licensee with a 20-year lease at £20,000 a year pays £400 in duty while the new system will increase this to £1,342. Freehold pubs are unaffected by the new tax.
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