Key facts
- Labour MP Callum Anderson has called for a review of the UK's stamp duty on shares.
- He argues the 0.5% tax increases costs for ordinary investors and makes buying British companies less attractive.
- The tax is controversial among financial industry figures, who blame it for reduced market liquidity and fewer London listings.
- Anderson's proposals are part of a broader set of growth policies he has put forward.
- The stamp duty on shares raises between £3bn and £4bn annually for the UK government.
A Labour backbencher has added to the criticism of the UK's stamp duty on shares, urging the government to reconsider the tax. Callum Anderson, the MP for Buckingham and Bletchley, argued in a LinkedIn essay that the 0.5% levy increases costs for ordinary investors and makes investing in British companies less attractive compared to international firms.
Anderson, who has experience in financial services, suggested that a review of the "merits" of stamp duty on share transactions is needed. This tax is a point of contention for many in the City, with figures at Peel Hunt and the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) attributing it to a decline in London market listings. Tax expert Dan Neidle and Ian Corfield, CEO of Secure Trust Bank, have also voiced concerns, with Corfield stating the tax is the "biggest handbrake" on stock trading liquidity in the UK.
Last year, former Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a three-year tax holiday for newly-listed companies. Anderson's call for a review is part of a wider set of growth policy proposals he has put forward for Chancellor John Healey to consider. These include further investment reliefs to defer capital gains tax for founders reinvesting business sale proceeds into new UK companies, extending corporation tax expensing, and exploring a UK state pension fund to reduce government debt exposure. He also touched on the idea of "war bonds" to fund defence spending, a proposal previously rejected by Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.