Residential Development Stamp Duty Refund Scheme

Building work

Commencing building work

You must have planning permission before you can commence building work. You must also submit a ‘Commencement Notice’ to your Local Authority. Your Local Authority must acknowledge the notice as valid.

Once acknowledged as valid, you can commence building work in accordance with the notice.

To qualify for a refund of Stamp Duty you must commence building work:

• in accordance with the Commencement Notice that has been acknowledged as valid
• within 30 months after the date the land was transferred to you
• and
• on or before 31 December 2022.

Where a development is carried out in phases, there should be a separate Commencement Notice for each phase. Work should be completed within 30 months of the date the Commencement Notice relating to that phase issues.

Building work includes site clearance, drainage, earth-moving, excavation and the laying of foundations. It also includes the provision of access such as roads.

Note

A Commencement Notice includes a 7 Day Notice.

Completing building work

You must complete building work within two years of the Local Authority acknowledging the notice as valid. This is to qualify for a refund of Stamp Duty.

Where a development is carried out in phases, the two year completion period applies to each phase. 

When you complete building work you must submit a ‘Certificate of Compliance on Completion’ to your Local Authority. The completion date is the date your Local Authority registers the certificate.   

If you build a single dwelling unit you can opt out of the Local Authority certification process. If you opt out, the completion date is the date of the ‘Electrical Completion Certificate’. You receive this certificate when the house is connected to the electricity network.

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