The amount of stamp duty paid in the West Midlands surged by almost a third last year as the property market has moved into recovery.
Takings from the sales of homes in the region rose 31 per cent to £230 million in 2013/14, up from £175 million the year before, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data.
The cost remains below the pre recession peak but the latest data shows a nine-fold rise in the total Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) yield from the region in the past 20 years.
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However, the region accounts for only a fraction of the £6.1 billion spent on stamp duty each year, with more than £2.7 billion of that coming from London.
Residential stamp duty yield in the West Midlands peaked at £325 million in 2006/07 during the height of the property boom but fell to £135 million by 2008/09.
The 海角视频-wide peak was £6.7 billion in 2007/08 which dropped dramatically to £2.95 billion the following year.
Paula Higgins, chief executive of campaign group the HomeOwners Alliance, said: “These latest figures show just how wrong stamp duty is.
“It was a tax introduced to apply to the few. It is now a tax on families and first-time buyers buying homes to live in as they have to save thousands to pay this upfront tax.
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“For some reason, the Government doesn’t see any contradiction in their attempts to get people onto the property ladder and heavily taxing them as they clamber onto the first rung.
“These figures show they must be blinded by the sheer amount of money they are raking in. George Osborne is addicted to stamp duty and can’t admit to the need for reform.
“If the Government was serious about helping first-time buyers, the stamp duty exemption threshold would always be above the average house price, so ordinary home buyers don’t pay.”
Of the total revenue for 2013/14, 95 per cent came from transactions taking place in England, with Scotland Of the £6.45 billion revenue collected in the last year, more than two-fifths (42 per cent) of it was from London and one fifth (21 per cent) came from property sales in the South East.
The ONS figures also showed that across the country, a typical first-time buyer faces paying 13.5 per cent more to get on the property ladder than they did a year ago, at £209,000. This is the steepest annual increase seen since 2005.
Sales of homes are free of stamp duty up to the value of £125,000 and attract a one per cent tax above this level and up to £250,000.
But rising house prices as the housing market gathers pace mean that more purchasers face paying at higher rates. A stamp duty rate of three per cent is applied to homes worth over £250,000 to £500,000, one of four per cent is imposed on those valued at over £500,000 up to £1 million, one of five per cent kicks in on those worth over £1 million to £2 million and one of seven per cent is applied beyond that point.
Two new residential stamp duty land tax bands were introduced in 2012/13. A new seven per cent rate came into effect for all residential transactions over £2 million, while for purchases of homes worth over £2 million by certain types of corporate body, a 15 per cent rate was implemented.