Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the level of abuse of the market-making exemption in relation to stamp duty.

All aspects of Stamp Duty Reserve Tax are monitored by HMRC and action is taken where necessary to prevent or counter non-compliance.

Intermediary relief was introduced in 1997 to safeguard liquidity and market making in the London equity market. Without the relief, market activity would fall and the chains of transactions between an ultimate seller and buyer would be subject to unsustainably high effective tax rates.