UK raises threshold on property purchase tax to boost housing market after COVID

• Britain will raise the threshold of a tax on property purchases from 125,000 pounds to 500,000 pounds to boost activity in the housing market after the coronavirus lockdown, finance minister Rishi Sunak said on Wednesday.
• “This will be a temporary cut running until 31st March 2021. And, as is always the case, these changes to stamp duty will take effect immediately,” Sunak told parliament during a statement on the outlook for the economy.
• He said the average stamp duty bill will fall by 4,500 pounds, and nearly nine out of ten people buying a main home this year will pay no stamp duty at all.

 (Source: Reuters)