We provide evidence on the effect of property transaction taxes on house prices, the number of houses transacted, and the timing of house transactions. To address these questions, we exploit administrative data on the universe of property transactions in the United Kingdom from 2005-2011 along with compelling sources of identifying variation. First, discontinuous jumps in the stamp duty at threshold property prices – notches – allow us to provide credible evidence on the effect of the tax on house prices. Second, a temporary exemption of some properties from the tax – a stamp duty holiday – allows us to analyse the dynamics of behavioural responses and timing effects on house transactions. Third, we use both notches and the stamp duty holiday to show that transaction taxes have clear effects on the extensive margin of whether to buy a house or not.