Section 45A Aggregation of transactions

Summary

The purpose of this section is to counter attempts at avoidance where a house or an apartment is purchased by more than one purchaser and each purchaser takes a separate conveyance or transfer of an interest in the house or apartment in order to avail of lower stamp duty rates. While the splitting of transactions for the purpose of avoiding a higher rate of stamp duty is already countered in this Act, on the basis that the transaction forms part of a larger transaction or a series of transactions (see Schedule 1), the purpose of this section is to put beyond doubt that the stamp duty on such conveyances or transfers will be determined on the basis of the value of the whole house for instruments executed on or after 5 November 2007 (the aggregate value of the whole house and any contents therein for instruments executed before 5 November 2007). The section also extends to gifts made in a similar manner regardless of the circumstances under which the gifts take place or the parties involved in such gifts. This section applies to instruments executed on or after 3 February 2005.

Details

(1) “dwellinghouse” includes an apartment.

(2) Where an existing interest in a house (e.g. house owned by one person) or existing interests in a house (e.g. house owned by two or more persons as tenants in common) is conveyed or transferred by more than one instrument, executed within a period of 12 months, subsection (3) will apply to each of those instruments whether the instrument gives effect to a sale or a gift of an interest in the house.

(3) An instrument described in subsection (2) is deemed, for the purposes of the Heading “CONVEYANCE or TRANSFER on sale of any property other than stocks or marketable securities or a policy of insurance or a policy of life insurance” in Schedule 1, to form part of a larger transaction or series of transactions in respect of which the amount or value, or the aggregate amount or value of the consideration which is attributable to residential property is equal to the value of the house for instruments executed on or after 5 November 2007 (to the value of the house and its contents for instruments executed before 5 November 2007).

(4) Where a conveyance or transfer of an interest in a house is effected by one instrument and—

(a) before 1 March 2005, the duty chargeable (if any) on the instrument and accounted for to the Revenue Commissioners, has not been determined on the basis of the aggregate amount equal to the value of the whole house and its contents,

(b) on or after 1 March 2005 and before 5 November 2007, the duty chargeable (if any) on the instrument and accounted for to the Revenue Commissioners, has or has not been determined on the basis of the aggregate amount equal to the value of the whole house and its contents,

(c) on or after 5 November 2007, the duty chargeable (if any) on the instrument and accounted for to the Revenue Commissioners, has or has not been determined on the basis of the value of the whole house,

and this is followed by one or more conveyances or transfers of other interests in the same house, within the subsequent 12 month period, the transferee or each transferee, if there is more than one, who is a party to the first transfer, will, jointly and severally, be liable to a clawback, payable to the Revenue Commissioners, equal to the amount of the difference between—

(a) the amount of duty chargeable if the first transfer was one to which subsection (3) applied, and

(b) any duty paid on the first transfer plus any clawback previously paid in respect of that first transfer,

together with interest charged on that amount, at a rate of 0.0219 per cent per day (see section 159D) from the date of execution of the instrument to the date the clawback is paid.

Relevant Date: Finance Act 2014