There’s a lot of competition for the title of Britain’s worst tax. In my view, the stamp duty land tax is right up there. It forces people to pay thousands of pounds to the Treasury when they’re already at full stretch buying a property.

Stamp duty often flies under the radar – until you move home and discover how brutal it is.

The levy kicks in at five percent on any part of a property price above £250,000. It then jumps to 10 percent on any price above £925,000 and 12 percent above…