Stamp duty for non-UK residents

Non-UK residents buying residential property in England or Northern Ireland pay Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) at rates 2 percentage points higher than UK residents. The surcharge sits on top of every other residential rate, so an investor who lives abroad and already owns a home there usually pays the standard rates, plus the higher rates for additional dwellings, plus 2%.

This guide covers how residence is tested, what the surcharges cost at real prices, how to reclaim the 2% and how Scotland and Wales differ. Rates are those for purchases from 1 April 2025, checked on 23 October 2026.

The surcharge at a glance

How residence is tested for SDLT

SDLT has its own residence test, set out in Schedule 9A to the Finance Act 2003. It counts days of presence in the UK, not citizenship, so a British citizen living abroad can pay the surcharge.

Individuals: the 183-day test

You are non-UK resident for a purchase if you were not present in the UK for at least 183 days during the 12 months before its effective date. The effective date is normally completion, or the date of substantial performance if that comes earlier.

• Days anywhere in the UK count, not only days in England or Northern Ireland.
• A day counts if you are in the UK at the end of it. A day trip that ends abroad does not count.
• Crown employees working abroad, and their spouses or civil partners, are treated as present in the UK if they claim on the return.

Joint buyers, spouses and partners

Each buyer is tested separately. If any one buyer is non-UK resident, all the buyers are treated as non-UK resident and the whole purchase carries the surcharge.

Spouses and civil partners are the exception. If you are not separated and neither of you is buying as a trustee, one partner's UK residence makes both of you UK resident for this test. Business partners buying together are joint buyers, so one non-resident partner brings the others in.

Marriage works in opposite directions for the two surcharges. One UK-resident spouse can take a couple out of the non-resident surcharge, but if either spouse would pay the higher rates, the whole purchase does.

Companies

A company is non-UK resident for SDLT if it is not UK resident for Corporation Tax on the effective date. A UK-resident close company can still be treated as non-UK resident if it is under non-UK control and is not an excluded company, so a UK company set up by overseas investors can carry the surcharge.

Companies pay the higher rates on residential purchases of £40,000 or more, and a 17% rate can apply to residential property costing more than £500,000 bought by certain corporate bodies, with reliefs available, including for a property rental business. The 2% surcharge is added to all of these rates, including the 17% rate. A company cannot use the refund route described below. Our limited company buy-to-let guide covers the wider trade-offs.

Trusts

A trust is non-UK resident if any trustee is, unless it is a bare trust or a beneficiary has a life interest or right to the income, when the beneficiaries are tested instead.

How the surcharge stacks with the higher rates

Two separate tests run side by side. The higher rates for additional dwellings depend on what you own: they apply if, after the purchase, you will own more than one residential property worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world. The surcharge depends on where you have been. A home you own abroad counts for the first test, and the days you spend abroad count against you in the second.

The surcharge also applies to first-time buyers' relief. From 1 April 2025 that relief charges 0% up to £300,000 and 5% from £300,001 to £500,000, so a non-UK resident who qualifies pays 2% and 7% on those slices. The relief is not available above £500,000.

Worked examples

These are our own calculations from the GOV.UK bands above, for an individual buying a freehold with no reliefs. "Only property" means the buyer will own no other residential property worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world and is not claiming first-time buyers' relief.

How the £300,000 figure is built

For a non-UK resident buying a £300,000 buy-to-let while owning a home abroad:

• 7% on the first £125,000 = £8,750
• 9% on the next £125,000 = £11,250
• 12% on the final £50,000 = £6,000
• Total SDLT = £26,000, of which £6,000 is the non-resident surcharge

Because the surcharge is 2% in every band, it always adds 2% of the full price. As cross-checks, HMRC's published example of a £300,000 additional property comes to £20,000, and GOV.UK's example of a non-UK resident buying a £700,000 home with no other property comes to £39,000. The same method reproduces both. Run your own price in the stamp duty calculator, which includes both surcharges.

Reclaiming the surcharge if you become UK resident

If you cannot be sure at completion that you meet the 183-day test, the return is made as a non-UK resident and the surcharge is paid. If the test is met later, you or your agent apply to amend the return. The refund is not automatic.

The conditions

• All the purchasers must be individuals.
• Each must be present in the UK for at least 183 days in a continuous 365-day period that starts no more than 364 days before the effective date and ends no more than 365 days after it. Each buyer's period can be different.
• The claim must be made within 2 years of the effective date.

Days before and after completion can combine: GOV.UK's example is a buyer with 77 days in the UK before completing who reclaims after 106 more.

Key dates for a February 2027 completion

These dates are our calculation for a hypothetical completion on 1 February 2027.

How to apply

The application is made online. You need the Unique Transaction Reference Number from the original return, the effective date, the SDLT paid, the price, and a UK bank account and sort code for the repayment. An agent needs your signed authority.

Scotland and Wales: LBTT and LTT

SDLT does not apply in Scotland or Wales. Scotland charges Land and Buildings Transaction Tax (LBTT), administered by Revenue Scotland, and Wales charges Land Transaction Tax (LTT). The 2% non-resident surcharge is an SDLT rule, and the published LBTT and LTT rates include no equivalent. Both have their own charges on additional homes, and both count property you own anywhere in the world.

The Scottish figure is LBTT of £4,600 (2% of £105,000 plus 5% of £50,000, with 0% up to £145,000) plus ADS of £24,000. The Welsh figure is 5% of £180,000 (£9,000), 8.5% of £70,000 (£5,950) and 10% of £50,000 (£5,000). These are our calculations, and the order changes at other prices. Our guide to stamp duty on second homes sets out every band, and the Glasgow and Edinburgh guides cover the Scottish markets.

Paying the tax and planning the cash

The SDLT return and payment are due within 14 days of the effective date. Your conveyancer usually files and pays on completion, so the money must be with them beforehand, as part of the sterling sum you send. The rates in force on the effective date apply, which matters on off-plan purchases. Our guide to currency and international payments covers timing that transfer, and buying UK property remotely walks through the full purchase.

PROXERA Wealth builds the surcharge into the numbers before anything is recommended. After completion, PROXERA keeps the purchase costs, documents and key dates with the property, including any refund deadline. More on how we work with buyers abroad is on our overseas investors page.

Country guides set out the tax treaty, currency and time difference for where you live: Hong Kong, the UAE, Singapore, Nigeria, the USA, India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia, China, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Canada and Australia.