Suggestion...

Stamp duty on commission?

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In the past I have only been charged stamp duty on the value of a purchase of shares. Recently I bought some shares through HSBC and they have charged stamp duty on the value plus their commission. I wrote to them concerning this and they replied as follows:

"I can confirm that there are two ways for trading within HSBC
StockBroker Services. They are trading as principal and trading
as an agent.

HSBC StockBroker Services trades as a principal which means that
we trade through our own brokers with the stock market and we do
not use any agents who are not registered as part of HSBC so we
will charge stamp duty on the value of the purchase plus the
commission.

Other stockbrokers may trade as an agent so they use someone who
is already established in the market to place trades for their
customers who will pay stamp duty on the value of the trade only."

I find this a bit odd. Is what they say actually correct? Why should I pay stamp duty on their commission? I don't pay stamp duty on estate agent's fees when I buy a house! Any further clarification would be helpful.
http://www.trade2win.com/boards/stocks/22192-stamp-duty-comm...