Stamp taxes on investments (SDRT)

SDRT is deliberately simple, and the exam tests it by tempting you to import complexity from its neighbours. The rule itself: electronic purchases of UK shares are charged at 0.5% of the consideration, paid by the PURCHASER, rounded to the nearest penny. That's the whole computation — no bands, no allowance, no de minimis for small purchases, no dependence on the buyer's income or rate band, and the rate applies to the full amount from the first pound. Each 'no' in that list is a distractor: banding comes from SDLT, allowances from income tax, small-amount exemptions from IHT — all real rules, all belonging to other taxes. The one genuine relief is absolute: shares admitted to a recognised growth market (AIM being the exam's example), and not also listed on a main market, are EXEMPT — completely, not at a reduced rate. Keep the two sibling stamp taxes in their lanes: paper transfers through a stock transfer form attract Stamp Duty, rounded UP to the nearest £5; land attracts SDLT, banded and rounded down to the pound. SDRT is the electronic-shares one: flat, purchaser-paid, penny-rounded, with a single all-or-nothing exemption. A question that mixes rounding rules, payers or band structures across the three is testing exactly that separation.