Britain's most-hated tax is about to be overhauled – although only if you live in Scotland. However, there are hopes that the replacement of stamp duty north of the border, which will see the end of the hugely unpopular system of "highest rate of tax on the whole amount", will be copied in the rest of the country. "There's a referendum on independence coming up," said Ray Boulger, an expert on the housing market. "It will be an open goal for Alex Salmond if he can say to Scottish voters: look, we abolished this immensely unfair tax as soon as we had the power to do so but the Westminster government is happy to keep it." To neutralise this threat, the Coalition could announce its own changes to stamp duty before the general election, Mr Boulger added. ......Read more here