‘Stop the Stamp!’ says ii CEO Richard Wilson
Scrapping irrational and lopsided tax will help protect UK share ownership, liquidity, and boost UK Plc for the long term.
5th March 2024 15:10
by Camilla Esmund from interactive investor
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interactive investor has long called for the removal of stamp duty on trading UK shares. The UK has a proud history of share ownership, and this must be nurtured. Ahead of tomorrow’s Spring Budget, ii’s Richard Wilson reiterates the urgent need for stamp duty’s scrapping.
Retail investors are already heavily invested in UK Plc. ii’s data shows that 80% of directly held equities across the platform are invested in UK-listed equities.
interactive investor maintains that stamp duty on UK shares penalises investors who buy British, but the fundamental issue with stamp duty comes back to liquidity. This is especially relevant as the UK grapples to maintain its competitiveness as a place for companies to not only list, but also to scale.
Stamp duty on UK shares is economically destructive. It constricts liquidity in the marketplace, leads to lower economic growth, and incentivises flow to other markets and products.
Scrap the stamp now
Richard Wilson, Chief Executive, interactive investor, says: “Liquidity in the markets is like our oxygen. The markets need it to breathe. By taxing transactions, we choke the air supply and make the markets weak, and then one by one the players leave.
“We then scratch our heads in confusion, presuming their leaving is because other markets have somehow got more depth and scale, so we add yet more bad incentives to stem the tide, like dual share classes, but actually compound the problem. It must end.
“Stop the Stamp now, give us back our level playing field, and let the London financial markets do what they do best: to compete, to innovate, to win.”
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