Analysis conducted by Peel Hunt suggests that eliminating stamp duty on shares could have a significant positive impact on the struggling stock market in the UK. Peel Hunt predicts that such a move would lead to increased investment inflows and encourage more companies to list in London.
According to Peel Hunt analyst Charles Hall, the UK currently imposes one of the highest levels of tax on stock transactions, making stamp duty a “pernicious tax” that is adversely affecting UK equity markets. While the UK levies a 0.5% stamp duty on shares, trading venues in the US, Germany, and Australia do not impose such a tax.
Hall argues that the exemption of cryptocurrency, ETFs, contract-for-differences, and spread-betting transactions from stamp duty further drains liquidity from equities and favors these alternative instruments. He suggests that removing stamp duty should be part of a series of reforms aimed at revitalizing the UK…
