PART 4

Stamp Duties

78 .— In this Part “Principal Act” means the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 .

79 .— (1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 1—

(i) by inserting the following after the definition of “ accountable person ”:

“ ‘ approved person ’ and ‘authorised person’ shall each be construed in accordance with section 917G of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 ;”,

(ii) by inserting the following after the definitions of “ ‘ executed’ and ‘execution’ ”:

“ ‘filer’, in relation to an instrument in respect of which a paper return is delivered to the Commissioners, means the person who would be the approved person or, as the case may be, the authorised person had the paper return been an electronic return;”,

and

(iii) by inserting the following after the definition of “ money”:

“ ‘paper return’ means a return in paper form that satisfies the requirements of an electronic return and is processed by the Commissioners through the e-stamping system;”,

and

(b) by inserting the following after section 8:

“Penalties: returns.

8A.— Where, in relation to an instrument, an approved person, authorised person or a filer, as the case may be, delivers an electronic return or a paper return, to the Commissioners which does not reflect the facts and circumstances of which the person is aware, affecting the liability of such instrument to duty or the amount of the duty with which such instrument is chargeable that are required by the Commissioners to be disclosed on such return, then such person shall incur a penalty of €3,000.”.

(2) The Finance Act 2008 is amended in section 111(1)—

(a) in paragraph (a)(iii) (which inserts a definition of “ stamp certificate ” into section 1 of the Principal Act) by substituting the following for the said definition of “ stamp cer tificate ”:

“ ‘ stamp certificate ’ means—

(a) a certificate issued electronically by the Commissioners by means of the e-stamping system, or

(b) a certificate processed electronically by the Commissioners through the e-stamping system and issued by them in paper form;”,

(b) in paragraph (c) (which amends section 8(2) of the Principal Act)—

(i) by substituting “such statement (other than where the Commissioners are required to express their opinion in relation to the chargeability of the instrument to duty in accordance with section 20) is not required to be delivered” for “such statement is not required to be delivered”, and

(ii) by substituting “retained by the accountable person for a period of 6 years” for “retained for a period of 4 years”,

in the said amendment to section 8(2),

and

(c) in paragraph (f) (which inserts section 17A into the Principal Act)—

(i) in paragraph (d) of the said section 17A—

(I) by substituting “electronic return or a paper return” for “electronic return”, and

(II) by deleting the word “otherwise”,

and

(ii) in paragraph (f)(i) of the said section 17A—

(I) by substituting “interest and penalty” for “penalty”, and

(II) by substituting “electronic return or paper return” for “electronic return”.

(3) (a) Subsection (1) of this section comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may by order or orders appoint and different days may be appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

(b) The amendments (effected by subsection (2)) to sections 1, 8(2) and 17A of the Principal Act are deemed to have been made as on and from the passing of the Finance Act 2008 and shall come into operation in accordance with section 111(2) of the Finance Act 2008 .

80 .— (1) Section 5 of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (3)—

(a) by substituting the following for paragraph (a):

“(a) (i) is issued during the period the agreement is in force, where the agreement is one that relates to the issue of such instrument, or

(ii) is processed during the period the agreement is in force, where the agreement is one that relates to the processing of such instrument,

and”,

(b) by substituting “were issued or processed, as the case may be,” for “were issued”, and

(c) by inserting the following after subsection (3):

“(3A) For the purposes of subsection (3) ‘ processed ’, in relation to an instrument that is a bill of exchange, means a bill of exchange that has been presented for payment and has been paid.”.

(2) This section applies as respects agreements (being agreements to which section 5 of the Principal Act relates) entered into on or after 1 January 2009.

81 .— Section 14 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following after subsection (2)—

“(2A) (a) Subject to the conditions in paragraph (b) being satisfied, a penalty of €25 referred to in subsection (1) or a penalty referred to in subsection (2) shall not be payable in respect of any instrument, first executed before the passing of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2008, in respect of which the stamp duty chargeable has not been paid to the Commissioners before the passing of that Act.

(b) The conditions required to be satisfied by this paragraph are that—

(i) the instrument is delivered to the Commissioners for stamping before the expiration of the period of 56 days commencing on the passing of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2008 (in this paragraph referred to as the ‘expiration date’), and

(ii) the stamp duty chargeable on the instrument is paid to the Commissioners, together with interest relating to such duty, on or before the expiration date.”.

82 .— (1) The Principal Act is amended—

(a) by inserting the following after section 31:

“Resting in contract.

31A.— (1) In this section—

‘ public private partnership arrangement ’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 3(1)(a) of the State Authorities (Public Private Partnership Arrangements) Act 2002 ;

‘ tax life ’, in relation to a building or structure, means the period referred to—

(a) in section 272 (4) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 , or

(b) in that section as applied by section 843A(3), 372AX(2) or 373AY(4) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 ,

in relation to the building or structure concerned.

(2) Where—

(a) the holder of an estate or interest in land in the State enters into a contract or agreement with another person for the sale of the estate or interest to that other person or to a nominee of that other person, and

(b) a payment which amounts to, or as the case may be payments which together amount to, 25 per cent or more of the consideration for the sale has been paid to, or at the direction of, the holder of the estate or interest at any time pursuant to the contract or agreement, and

(c) within 30 days of the first such time, a conveyance or transfer, made in conformity with the contract or agreement, and executed by the parties to the contract or agreement is not presented to the Commissioners for stamping with ad valorem duty chargeable on it,

then the contract or agreement shall be chargeable with the same ad valorem duty, to be paid by the other person, as if it were a conveyance or transfer of the estate or interest in the land.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), subsection (2) shall not apply to—

(a) a contract or agreement for the sale of a relevant interest (within the meaning of section 269 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 ) in a building or a structure, entered into before the beginning of, or during, the tax life of the building or structure, being—

(i) a building or structure to which paragraph (g), (i), (j), (l) or (m) of section 268(1) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies,

(ii) (I) a building or structure to which section 372AX of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies, or

(II) a qualifying premises to which section 372AY of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies,

or

(iii) a qualifying premises to which section 843A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies,

or

(b) a contract or agreement for the sale of an interest in land entered into solely in connection with a public private partnership arrangement.

(4) Subsection (3) shall not apply to a contract or agreement for the sale of a relevant interest where such sale is, as the case may be, to a person—

(a) to whom paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of subsection (1A), (1D) or (1E) of section 268 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies,

(b) to whom section 372AZ(1)(a) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies, or

(c) to whom section 843A(5) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 applies.

(5) Where duty has been paid, in respect of a contract or agreement, in accordance with subsection (2), a conveyance or transfer made in conformity with the contract or agreement shall not be chargeable with any duty, and the Commissioners, on application, either shall denote the payment of the ad valorem duty on the conveyance or transfer, or shall transfer the ad valorem duty to the conveyance or transfer on production to them of the contract or agreement, duly stamped.

(6) The ad valorem duty paid on any contract or agreement, in accordance with subsection (2), shall be returned where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that the contract or agreement has been rescinded or annulled.

Licence agreements.

31B.— (1) In this section—

‘ development ’, in relation to any land, means—

(a) the construction, demolition, extension, alteration or reconstruction of any building on the land, or

(b) any engineering or other operation in, on, over or under the land to adapt it for materially altered use;

‘ public private partnership arrangement ’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 3(1)(a) of the State Authorities (Public Private Partnership Arrangements) Act 2002 .

(2) Where—

(a) the holder of an estate or interest in land in the State enters into an agreement with another person under which that other person, or a nominee of that other person, is entitled to enter onto the land to carry out development on that land, and

(b) by virtue of the agreement, otherwise than as consideration for the sale of all or part of the estate or interest in the land, the holder of the estate or interest in the land receives at any time a payment which amounts to, or as the case may be payments which together amount to, 25 per cent or more of the market value of the land concerned,

then within 30 days of the first such time, the agreement shall be chargeable with the same ad valorem duty, to be paid by that other person, as if it were a conveyance or transfer of the estate or interest in the land.

(3) Subsection (2) shall not apply to an agreement, to which this section applies, entered into solely in connection with a public private partnership arrangement.

(4) The ad valorem duty paid on any agreement, in accordance with subsection (2), shall be returned where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that the agreement has been rescinded or annulled.”,

(b) by deleting section 36,

(c) by inserting the following after section 50:

“Agreements for more than 35 years charged as leases.

50A.— (1) In this section ‘ public private partnership arrangement ’ has the meaning assigned to it by section 3(1)(a) of the State Authorities (Public Private Partnership Arrangements) Act 2002 .

(2) An agreement for a lease or with respect to the letting of any lands, tenements, or heritable subjects for any term exceeding 35 years, shall be charged with the same duty as if it were an actual lease made for the term and consideration mentioned in the agreement where 25 per cent or more of that consideration has been paid.

(3) Subsection (2) shall not apply to an agreement for a lease entered into solely in connection with a public private partnership arrangement.

(4) Where duty has been paid, in respect of an agreement for a lease, in accordance with subsection (2), a lease made in conformity with the agreement for a lease shall not be chargeable with any duty, and the Commissioners, on application, either shall denote the payment of the ad valorem duty on the lease, or shall transfer the ad valorem duty to the lease on production to them of the agreement for a lease, duly stamped.

(5) The ad valorem duty paid on any agreement for a lease, in accordance with subsection (2), shall be returned where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that the agreement for a lease has been rescinded or annulled.”,

and

(d) by substituting “section 50 or 50A” for “section 50” in paragraph (4) of the Heading “LEASE” in Schedule 1.

(2) Section 110 of the Finance Act 2007 is repealed as on and from the passing of this Act.

(3) Subject to subsection (2), this section comes into operation on such day or days as the Minister for Finance may by order appoint and different days may be appointed for different purposes or different provisions.

83 .— (1) Section 34 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) by substituting “Notwithstanding section 37, where,” for “Where,”,

(b) by substituting “a sale of property, or an exchange of property within the meaning of section 37, as the case may be,” for “a sale of property,”, and

(c) by substituting “the vendor, or the transferor, as the case may be,” for “the vendor” in each place where it occurs.

(2) This section applies as respects conveyances or transfers executed on or after 20 November 2008.

84 .— Section 81AA of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (16) by substituting “31 December 2012” for “31 December 2008”.

85 .— Section 81C of the Principal Act is amended in subsection (12) by substituting “30 June 2011” for “30 June 2009”.

86 .— (1) Part 9 of the Principal Act is amended—

(a) in section 123B(4)—

(i) in paragraphs (a) and (b) by substituting “€2.50” for “€5” (inserted by the Finance Act 2008 ), and

(ii) in paragraph (c) by substituting “€5” for “€10” (as so inserted),

and

(b) in section 123C(1) by substituting the following for the second-mentioned reference to B in the definition of “ preliminary duty ”:

“B is—

(a) 40 per cent where the base period is 2007, or

(b) 80 per cent where the base period is a subsequent year;”.

(2) Subsection (1)(a) has effect as respects any statement that falls to be delivered by a bank or building society after 31 December 2008.

87 .— (1) Schedule 1 to the Principal Act is amended—

(a) under the Heading “BILL OF EXCHANGE” by substituting “€0.50” for “€0.30”,

(b) by substituting the following for the provisions (other than the exemption for a foreign loan security) under the Heading “CONVEYANCE or TRANSFER on sale of any stocks or marketable securities”:

(c) by substituting the following for paragraphs (13), (14), (14A) and (14B) under the Heading “CONVEYANCE or TRANSFER on sale of any property other than stocks or marketable securities or a policy of insurance or apolicy of life insurance”:

and

(d) by substituting the following for clauses (vii), (viii), (ix) and (x) of subparagraph (b) of paragraph (3) under the Heading “LEASE”:

(2) (a) Subsection (1)(a) applies as respects bills of exchange drawn on or after 15 October 2008.

(b) Subsection (1)(b) applies as respects instruments executed on or after the date of the passing of this Act.

(c) Paragraphs (c) and (d) of subsection (1) apply as respects instruments executed on or after 15 October 2008.