Letter: It Is Reasonable for the Rich to Pay More in Stamp Duty

Stamp duty should not be mistaken for an administrative charge, argues Hans Sundmark in a response to a reader letter in Dagens Nyheter. It is a tax, he says, and higher charges on expensive homes are therefore reasonable.

The current rate is 1.5 percent of the purchase price. That means someone buying a villa for 10 million kronor pays 150,000 kronor, while a buyer paying 2 million kronor pays 30,000 kronor.

The difference may appear unfair if the authority’s administrative work is the same in both cases. But Sundmark says the name itself is telling: this is “stamp tax,” not a fee. A 10-million-kronor villa is also more likely to be bought by a high-income earner, or even a billionaire, he writes.

Changing the tax into a flat fee could create the opposite problem. The charge might become unreasonably high for someone buying a cheaper home. Sundmark adds that Bo Cedergren should perhaps be glad if the tax does not become even more progressive after the September 13 election, given the left’s support for higher taxes on the wealthy.