The Welsh government has announced that the Welsh equivalent of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) has been extended to 30 June 2021.

In a written statement, Minister for Finance and Trefnydd, Rebecca Evans, confirmed the temporary increase to the nil rate band of Land Transaction Tax (LTT) for residential property transactions will remain at £250,000 for an additional three months.

However, unlike the stamp duty holiday in England – which will see a tapered withdrawal before it ends in September – the LTT threshold will revert to the original level that applied before the first announcement of the holiday in July 2020.

The LTT threshold was increased from £180,000 last July, resulting in around just 25% of those liable to the main LTT rates paying any tax at all.

Evans said that people buying their home in Wales costing more than £250,000 have made “a saving of £2,450 over that which would previously have been payable”, while people buying their homes in Wales costing less than £250,000 have not paid anything. 

“It is important to continue to ensure that these temporary tax reductions remain targeted, and they will not apply to those buying property that is liable to the higher residential rates of LTT,” Evans said. “The rates and thresholds for buyers of residential property acquired as an investment or as a second home remain unchanged.

“The UK government’s decision to provide an extension to its temporary increase to the SDLT starting threshold may, as in July, also have an impact on the property market in Wales, especially in the Wales-England border areas.

“It is important to ensure that distortions to the property market are not exacerbated by decisions in Westminster. It is disappointing that – yet again – the UK government did not work with us in advance to collaborate and join up our tax policy decisions to ensure that we could examine the data and evidence to support our choices.”

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