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UK households have paid £9.3 billion in stamp duty between January and August, a 20.6% rise on the £7.7 billion collected during the same period last year, according to Coventry Building Society’s analysis of HMRC data.

In August alone, £1.3 billion was paid in stamp duty, down slightly from £1.4 billion in July – suggesting that receipts may have reached their annual peak. The fall coincided with growing speculation over potential reforms to the property tax system.

Reports first surfaced in mid-August that the government could use the Autumn Budget to scrap stamp duty altogether and replace it with a new levy on sellers of properties worth more than £500,000.

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This week, further reports suggested th

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