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The Stamp Duty's not the killer, it's the reduced tax relief on interest - hitting higher geared, higher tax bracket investors in particular - and the removal of the nice little earner of wear and tear allowance. For now lower tax rate, lower geared investors look less affected, while there are opportunities to set up investment companies, but the government's direction of travel is clearly towards further tightening of BTL, while the Bank of England is sitting in the wings ... (Oh, and the ARLA threat that the changes will push up rents is tosh; rents are set by the market, not by landlords' costs.)