Stamp duty receipts have surged by almost a quarter year-on-year to £2.6bn as increasing number of transactions are hit by the tax.
Data from HM Revenue & Customs reveal estimated receipts from residential transactions in the third quarter of 2017 were 23 per cent greater than the third quarter of 2016.
The number of deals liable for stamp duty rose by 7 per cent during the same period, the figures showed.
It comes shortly after think tank The Adam Smith Institute branded stamp duty “the country’s most damaging tax” and claimed scrapping it could generate £10bn-worth of economic growth.
Reforms introduced in December 2014 led to the transaction tax being levied on the amount above certain price thresholds rather than on the total value of the property, with the aim of ensuring those purchasing lower-value properties paid less.
But increasing house prices have pushed more and more people into higher stamp duty brackets, particularly in less affordable areas such as London.
And in April 2016, the government introduced a 3 per cent stamp duty surcharge on the purchase of additional properties, pushing receipts up further.
The latest figures are likely to increase pressure on chancellor Philip Hammond to follow through on proposals to cut the tax in the November Budget, in order to help first-time buyers struggling to get on the housing ladder.
The tax also acts as a barrier to downsizing, it has been claimed, preventing older people in large houses from selling up, which in turn stops others from moving up the ladder.
But while many brokers have backed a cut in stamp duty, some have warned that doing so would merely drive up prices even further without further investment in the supply of new homes.
Steven Cameron, pensions director at Aegon, said: “Seen as the root cause of our clogged up housing market, controversy is raging with what to do to make the system fairer.
"We’re very familiar with the situation first-time buyers find themselves in, struggling to get on the property ladder, but we also need to reflect on stamp duty costs as a deterrent to downsizing.
“At the heart of the issue is older people in family homes, too large for their needs, discouraged from downsizing because of stamp duty, which is in turn preventing growing families from moving up the ladder.
“The removal of stamp duty would help to encourage pensioners to downsize, freeing up family homes. For those pensioners who are property rich but cash poor, this would also offer a new means of funding their retirement.
"This could become increasingly important as future generations of retirees will no longer benefit from the generous defined benefit pensions of today’s retirees.”
simon.allin@ft.com
