The Northern Ireland Tax Committee has provided a response to the consultation “Higher rates of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) on purchases of additional residential properties”. The Committee recommended the introduction of a disadvantaged areas relief in that response.

Other key points of the submission are as follows:

• increasing the rate of stamp duty land tax on additional properties purchases is likely to lead to lower stamp duty land tax yields overall as potential investors go elsewhere and transaction numbers fall
• the consultation proposals, coupled with recent tax and other measures aimed at the buy-to-let investor, will further impact on this sector
• there are broader issues arising from this consultation and a wider review of the United Kingdom housing market as a whole across all regions is warranted
• the consultation had a consultation period of less than half the 12-week period set out in the Government’s 2012 Consultation principles: guidance document

The submission is published here.