Stamp duty and enveloped dwellings taxes earned £5.7bn for HMRC from April to July this year, new figures show.

The figure is £2.2bn higher than the same period in 2020.

In July alone, £1.3bn was generated in stamp duty tax, the highest month on record for stamp duty receipts.

HMRC says the higher SDLT receipts in July 2021 are down to the exceptionally high number of transactions following the relaxation of the residential SDLT holiday, with the tax-free rate falling from no tax on the first £500K up to 30 June down to no tax on the first £250K from 1 July.

The 14-day payment window means that many of the transactions completed in late June will not have been settled until early July, hence the high receipts value shown for July 2021.

Inheritance tax receipts for April 2021 to July 2021 are £2.1 bn, which is £0.5bn higher than in the same period a year earlier.

Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance analyst Sarah Coles says: “The pandemic has pushed inheritance tax and stamp duty on property purchases to record highs in July. The horrible rise in deaths from coronavirus at the beginning of this year meant an increase in IHT as those estates finally made their way through probate. Meanwhile, the Treasury’s efforts to reinvigorate the property market after lockdown with a stamp duty holiday encouraged thousands of people to accelerate their house-buying plans, pushing stamp duty on property to record highs.”