||||than a quarter of the total return<br>from property comes from the<br>highest band above £500,000**.**<sup>**6)**</sup><br>Counter on the increase of stamp<br>duty rate:<br>The British Beer and Pub<br>Association (BBPA) says high<br>street watering holes are being<br>hit by a 466% tax rise on<br>property leases. The<br>government is changing the way<br>it calculates stamp duty and will<br>use the value of the whole lease<br>rather than the average value of<br>the rent. According to BBPA<br>figures, the changes will result in<br>pubs and bars being charged a<br>total of £14.1 million a year, up<br>from £3.2 million before - a rise<br>of 466%, said the spokesperson.||
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|**US (Florida)**|Florida has an excise tax called a documentary<br>stamp tax on many financial instruments. It was first<br>enacted in 1931.<br>Documentary stamp tax is levied on documents as<br>provided under Chapter 201, Florida Statutes.<br>Documents subject to the tax include, but are not<br>limited to:<br>**Deeds**<br>The tax rate for documents that transfer an interest<br>in real property is $.70 per $100 (or portion thereof)<br>of the total consideration paid, or to be paid, for the<br>transfer. An exception is Miami-Dade County, where<br>the rate is $.60 per $100 (or portion thereof) when<br>the property is a single-family residence. If the<br>Miami-Dade property is anything other than a single-<br>family residence, the tax rate is $.60 plus $.45<br>surtax per $100 (or portion thereof).<br>**Bonds and Stocks**<br>Bonds - Documentary stamp tax is due upon the<br>original issuance of bonds in this state. The tax rate<br>is $.35 per $100 (or portion thereof) based upon the<br>face value of the bond.<br>**Stocks:**Effective May 1, 2002, the tax on the<br>original issue of stock was repealed.<br>**Notes and Other Written Obligations to Pay**<br>**Money:**<br>The tax rate on a written obligation to pay money is|Merger of Certain Entities and<br>Documentary Stamp Tax --<br>§§607.1101 and 607.1101 and<br>Chapter 201, F.S.<br>Current Situation:<br>Sections 607.1101 and<br>607.1107, F.S., allow the<br>merger of corporations, both<br>domestic and foreign. Under<br>these types of mergers, title to<br>real property owned by the<br>merging entity will transfer to<br>the surviving entity by operation<br>of law, which pursuant to<br>§607.1106, F.S., does not<br>require recordation of a deed.<br>The act of filing the articles of<br>merger with Secretary of State<br>is sufficient to transfer title to<br>real property from the merging<br>entity to the surviving entity. If a<br>corporation merges with a<br>business entity other than a<br>corporation, however, a deed<br>must be recorded and<br>documentary stamp taxes must<br>be paid in order to transfer title|<br>**April 2001**<br>**Cons for current system:**<br>A report by the Center for a<br>Competitive Florida: When<br>Florida businesses are involved<br>in a large loan -- say $3 million --<br>they have a choice to make.<br>They can execute that loan in<br>Florida and pay over $10,000 in<br>documentary stamp taxes or<br>travel to another state like<br>Georgia and legally avoid paying<br>the tax. Florida TaxWatch has<br>heard from Florida businesses<br>that routinely execute large loans<br>outside of Florida -- particularly in<br>Georgia to legally avoid paying<br>the tax. This is a purely sound<br>business decision where the cost<br>of traveling outside the state is<br>less than the added tax costs.<br>Travel to another state is not<br>even necessary. It is also<br>common for the parties involved<br>to take a boat far enough off the<br>Florida coast to be in<br>international waters and execute|1)http://www.myflorida.com/dor/taxes<br>/doc_stamp.html<br>_2)http://www.hklaw.com/Publications_<br>_/Newsletters.asp?ID=154&Article=72_<br>_9_<br>3)http://www.floridataxwatch.org/arch<br>ive/doccap.html<br>4)http://www.premiergrouprealty.com<br>/resources/documentarystamptax.as<br>p|

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