Commons remaining stages: Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill
12 January 2015
MPs debated the Committee, Report and Third Reading stages of the Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill in the House of Commons on Monday 12 January 2015.
The Bill passed all stages without amendment and now passes to the House of Lords for consideration.
- Watch Parliament TV: Remaining stages: Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill
- Read Commons Hansard: Remaining stages: Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill
- Read Parliament news: Commons Second reading: Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill
- Read current Parliamentary material in Topics: Taxation
Related information
Summary of the Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill
The Bill amends the existing legislation which prescribes the method of calculating the amount of SDLT due in respect of residential property transactions and linked transactions and sets out a new table of rates and bands applying to residential property transactions. It includes transitional provisions which allow purchasers in transactions where contracts were exchanged before the measure was announced, but completion takes place afterwards, to choose whether the new or the old rates will apply.
Progress of the Bill
This Government Bill was presented to Parliament on 4 December 2014. This is known as the first reading and there was no debate on the Bill at this stage. Second reading took place on Wednesday 10 December 2014.
Keep up to date with all the proceedings and documentation, including amendment papers, on the Stamp Duty Land Tax Bill and find out how a bill becomes an Act of Parliament.
House of Commons Library analysis
The House of Commons Library produces briefing papers to inform MPs of key issues. The papers contain factual information and a range of opinions on each subject, and aim to be politically impartial.
What happens next?
If the Bill passes all of its stages in the House of Commons it will pass to the House of Lords for consideration.
What is the Committee stage of a bill?
When a bill passes its second reading and is considered in detailed, this usually takes place in a Public Bill Committee held outside the Chamber and made up of between 16 and 20 MPs.
Occasionally a bill will be considered by a Committee of the whole House and this discussion takes place in the Chamber itself, where all MPs can take part.
Any bill can be referred to a Committee of the whole House, but the procedure is normally reserved for finance bills and other important or controversial legislation.
What is the report stage of a bill?
The report stage gives MPs an opportunity, on the floor of the House, to consider any further amendments (proposals for change) to a bill which has been examined in a public bill committee or on the floor of the House. There is no set time period between the end of committee stage and the start of the report stage.
What happens at report stage?
All MPs may speak and vote. For lengthy or complex bills, the debates may be spread over several days. All MPs can suggest amendments to the bill or new clauses (parts) that they think should be added.
What happens after report stage?
Report stage is usually followed immediately by debate on the bill's third reading.
What happens at third reading?
Debate on the bill is usually short, and limited to what is actually in the bill, rather than, as at second reading, what might have been included.
Amendments (proposals for change) cannot be made to a bill at a third reading in the Commons. At the end of the debate, the House decides whether to approve the third reading of the bill.
What happens after third reading?
If the bill started in the Commons it goes to the House of Lords for its first reading.
If the bill started in the Lords it returns to the House of Lords for consideration of any amendments the Commons has made.
Watching proceedings from the public gallery
UK residents and overseas visitors can watch proceedings in the House of Commons by visiting the public gallery.
This article was produced by the Commons Digital Outreach Team. Follow the @HouseofCommons on Twitter for updates on the UK House of Commons Chamber.