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Stamp Duty and Property

  1. Overview
  2. Residential property
  3. Non-residential property
  4. Certain property deriving its value from immovable property
  5. Mixed use property
  6. Rates
  7. Exchanges
  8. Transitional arrangements

Exchanges

You may exchange land (including buildings) you own for land owned by someone else. Stamp Duty is paid on the instrument (written document) that brings about the exchange. You pay Stamp Duty on the market value of the land that is exchanged.

  • Example 1

    In 2018 Tom exchanges his house in Cork valued at €190,000 for Mary’s farm in Cork valued at €150,000.

    As the house is more valuable than the farm, Mary pays Tom €40,000 (this type of payment is usually called equality money).

    They execute (sign) an instrument (usually known as a Deed of Exchange) to effect the exchange.

    Stamp Duty is chargeable on:

    • €190,000 for the transfer of Tom’s house

    • €150,000* for the transfer of Mary’s farm.

    *you ignore the equality money of €40,000

    If the exchange is effected by means of two instruments, that is,

    • one instrument transferring Tom's house to Mary

    • one instrument transferring Mary's farm to Tom

    Stamp Duty is chargeable on:

    • €190,000 for the transfer of Tom’s house

    • €150,000 for the transfer of Mary’s farm.

  • Example 2

    The facts are the same as in Example 1.

    However, there is a mortgage on the farm of €20,000 which Tom agrees to take responsibility for paying.

    Stamp Duty is chargeable on the €190,000 and €150,000 – you ignore the assumption of the debt of €20,000.

You may exchange immovable property (land) in Ireland for property, immovable or otherwise, in another country. Stamp Duty is chargeable only on the value of the Irish immovable property.

Partitions or divisions

You may co-own land together with another person as joint tenants or tenants-in-common.

Co-owners may decide to partition (divide up) the land so that each person owns his or her own separate piece.

You pay Stamp Duty on the instrument that effects the partition if the consideration exceeds €130.

If consideration exceeds €130, you pay Stamp Duty on the whole of the consideration.

  • Example 3

    Mary and Tom are joint tenants of agricultural land valued at €200,000.

    They decide to partition the land – each taking a part worth €100,000.

    They execute an instrument (usually known as a Deed of Partition) to effect the partition.

    They do not pay any consideration to each other.

    Stamp Duty is not chargeable. They do not file a Stamp Duty return.

In a partition one of the co-owners may get more than their entitlement and not pay full value for it. Stamp Duty is chargeable on the difference in value.

  • Example 4

    Mary and Tom are joint tenants of land in Ireland valued at €300,000.

    They decide to partition the land with Mary taking land valued at €110,000 and Tom taking the remaining land valued at €190,000.

    They execute a Deed of Partition.

    Tom does not make any payment to Mary for equality.

    As Tom is receiving €40,000 more than his entitlement Stamp Duty is chargeable on €40,000.

If there is no gift element, Stamp Duty is not chargeable. You do not file a Stamp Duty return.

It is common for spouses or civil partners to own the family home as joint tenants. Subsequently the relationship may break down and the house may be transferred into the ownership of one of them.

  • Example 5

    Jane and Joe are husband and wife.

    They own the family home as joint tenants.

    Subsequently the marriage was dissolved, and the court ordered that the house be transferred to Joe.

    The (whole) house is valued at €150,000.

    As Joe is getting Jane’s half share of the house Stamp Duty is chargeable on €75,000.

    Joe may be able to claim the exemption for transfers between former spouses.

Converting a joint tenancy into a tenancy-in-common

You may wish to convert a joint tenancy into a tenancy-in-common. The process is referred to as severing the joint tenancy.

Stamp Duty is not chargeable where each co-owner gets the share they were entitled to get. You do not file a Stamp Duty return.

If any of the co-owners receives more than the share they were entitled to as joint tenants Stamp Duty is chargeable on the “more”.

  • Example 6

    Mary and Joe co-own a farm as joint tenants.

    They execute an instrument to make them tenants-in-common with:

    • Mary getting a 40% ownership share in the farm

    and

    • Joe getting a 60% ownership share.

    Stamp Duty is chargeable on the value of the 10% share that Joe is receiving in addition to his entitlement.

Releases

You may own property or have a right to or interest in property which you decide to release (give up). Stamp Duty is chargeable on a written release.

Examples of releases are:

  • a release by a life tenant of their life interest to the remainderman or another person
  • a release by the remainderman of their remainder interest to life tenant or another person.
  • Example 7

    Mary has a life interest in a farmhouse in Ireland. This means that Mary can live in the farmhouse until she dies.

    On her death the farmhouse will pass to her brother, Tom. Tom is the remainderman, that is, the person who gets the farmhouse when Mary dies.

    Mary executes an instrument (usually called a Deed of Release) releasing her life interest to Tom. This means that Tom immediately becomes the owner of the farm.

    In return Tom pays Mary €10,000.

    Stamp Duty is chargeable on €10,000.

    However, if €10,000 did not represent the market value of the life interest there would be a gift. In the case of a gift, Stamp Duty is chargeable on the market value.

Surrenders

You may own property or have a right to or interest in property which you decide to surrender (bring to an end).

For example you may surrender your lease to your landlord. If the landlord pays you consideration for surrendering it, Stamp Duty is chargeable.

If you surrender your lease but the landlord does not pay you consideration, Stamp Duty is chargeable if there is a gift. If the case of a gift, you pay Stamp Duty on the surrender value of the lease.

If you pay the landlord for the surrender, Stamp Duty is not chargeable. You do not file a Stamp Duty return.

Next: Transitional arrangements

Published: 27 July 2023 Print this page

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