Published: 6 August 2026 10:48 am  Author: Jess Saumarez

The UK is scrapping Stamp Duty on shares. Here’s what’s replacing it.

If you’ve ever filled in a stock transfer form, worked out whether a transaction fell under the £1,000 stamping threshold, or waited on HMRC to physically stamp a document before a share transfer could complete, you’ll know that UK stamp taxes on shares have not exactly kept pace with how business gets done in 2026.

We were once told that the stamping office stops work early every day, just to allow time to service the ancient stamping machines to ensure they are maintained ready for the next day. Whether or not that is true, to still be relying on physically stamped documents in the 21st century (which can cause major delays to transactions) is not something that should be perpetuated longer than it has to be.

That’s about to change. On 13 July 2026, the government published draft legislation for a brand new Securities Transfer Tax (STT), a single, fully digital tax that will replace both Stamp Duty and Stamp Duty Reserve Tax (SDRT) on share transfers. It’s the biggest shake up of this corner of tax law in decades, and if you handle share transfers, cap table changes, or corporate transactions for clients, it’s worth understanding well before it lands.

Here’s what we know so far, and why it matters if you work in company secretarial, corporate law, or accountancy.

What is the Securities Transfer Tax?

The STT is a new, single tax on transfers of securities that replaces the current dual system of Stamp Duty (for paper transactions) and SDRT (for electronic ones, mainly through Certificateless Registry for Electronic Share Transfer or “CREST”). Instead of two overlapping regimes with different rules, forms and timings, there will be one modern, self-assessed tax administered through a digital portal.

In practice, that means no more physically stamping documents, no more separate processes depending on whether a transfer is paper based or electronic, and a single, consistent way for buyers to calculate and pay what they owe.

The key details

The rates themselves aren’t changing, but almost everything about how the tax is administered is. Here’s the breakdown:

• Rates stay the same. The main rate remains 0.5% of the consideration paid, with a higher 1.5% rate continuing to apply in specific circumstances, such as transfers into clearance services or depositary receipt schemes.
• The £1,000 de minimis is being scrapped. Currently, transfers under £1,000 don’t need to be stamped. Under the STT, that threshold disappears, which means many smaller, off-market transfers, including option exercises and employee share transfers, will fall within scope for the first time.
• It’s fully digital and self-assessed. Buyers will calculate and pay the tax themselves through an online portal, rather than relying on physical stamping or manual submission.
• New payment deadlines apply. Early indications suggest 14 days to pay for electronic transactions and 30 days for non-electronic ones, running from the date the agreement is made.
• Buyers remain liable, but agents take on more exposure. The person acquiring the securities is still primarily responsible for the tax, but filing agents will become “accountable persons,” with joint and several liability for the returns they submit on a client’s behalf.
• A four year transitional period is built in for transactions that were agreed before the new rules commence but where duty is actually paid afterwards.
• Launch is planned for 2027, with the exact commencement date expected to be confirmed in autumn 2026.

Why is this happening now?

Stamp Duty on shares is one of the oldest taxes still in operation in the UK, and SDRT was only ever meant to be a modern bookend to it for electronic transfers through CREST. The result, over time, has been two systems doing a similar job in different ways, neither of which was designed with a digital, self-assessed world in mind.

HMRC has described the STT as a modernisation of the stamp taxes on shares framework, and outside commentators have welcomed the direction of travel. Tax specialists have called it a much overdue replacement that brings this part of the tax system into the modern age, while also flagging areas that will need close attention during the consultation, particularly around agent liability and how contingent or deferred consideration is treated when the final price isn’t known upfront.

That consultation is open now. HMRC is inviting feedback on the draft legislation until 7 September 2026, so there’s still time for firms and advisers to flag practical concerns before the rules are finalised.

What this means if you handle share transfers

For anyone doing company secretarial or corporate work, this isn’t just a tax technicality. It changes a process you or your clients probably run on a regular basis.

A few things worth thinking about now, even with commencement still over a year away:

Removing the £1,000 threshold means transfers that firms may not have needed to think about for stamp purposes before, small employee share transfers or minor restructurings, will now need to be assessed and, where due, taxed. That’s more transactions to track, not fewer.

A fully digital, self-assessed system also shifts more responsibility onto the person completing the transfer to get the calculation and timing right, rather than relying on HMRC’s stamping process as a backstop. Firms that already keep clean, accurate share registers and transfer records will find this far easier to adapt to than those still piecing information together from spreadsheets, paper registers, or several different systems.

And for agents managing transfers on behalf of clients, the new “accountable person” liability is a good reason to start thinking now about how transfer processes are documented and who signs off on what.

What’s changing in Kudocs

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this and adapting the system as necessary to support any relevant changes. We’re hoping there will be the ability to generate all necessary forms electronically and ideally even have a direct integration between Kudocs (as the system used to process the share transfer) and the relevant HMRC/ payment/ stamping system.

Oliver Stanley says: “this is a welcome and significant upgrade to the existing system. Hopefully this will effectively get rid of the absurd time delay between the shares being sold (equitable interest passing) and when the transfer can be legally recorded. Companies will no longer be waiting months for their stamped J30s (STFs) to be returned from the stamping office.”

The takeaway

The Securities Transfer Tax won’t land until 2027, but the direction is clear: stamp taxes on shares are going fully digital, the safety net of the £1,000 threshold is disappearing, and self-assessment puts more of the responsibility on buyers and their advisers to get it right. Firms that already have accurate, well maintained share registers and clean transfer records will be in a much stronger position when the new rules arrive than those still relying on manual processes.

If your firm is still tracking share transfers across spreadsheets and paper registers, there’s no better time than now to get that foundation in order. See how Kudocs keeps share registers and transfers accurate and up to date or book a 15 minute demo to see it in action.