What is stamp duty?

Stamp duty is a charge the Government levies on share transactions, currently 0.5 per cent of each transaction.

In the European Union only Denmark, Ireland and the UK have stamp duty and Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Sweden have none. The other major countries have other arrangements which don't hurt the shareholder. This makes share transactions comparatively dearer in the UK than in our European competitors.

APCIMS believes that stamp duty is little more than a tax on share dealing which could cost the UK valuable business in future. As a pan-European exchange develops, British companies might migrate onto other exchanges where transactions are cheaper