Revenue eBrief No. 183/21

11 October 2021

Stamp duty: 10% rate of duty charged on the acquisition of multiple residential units

The stamp duty Tax and Duty Manual (TDM) in relation to the 10% rate of stamp duty charged on the acquisition of multiple residential units (section 31E Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999) has been amended to address certain issues that have been identified in relation to the application of the charge.

Section 1 has been updated with contact details for any queries on interpretation of sections 31E and 83E that are not covered in the TDM.

Section 3.1 has been updated in relation to a new Revenue practice to allow ‘own door’ apartments to come within the definition of “apartment block”.

A new section has been added at 5.1 relating to the inadvertent overly wide scope of the charging provision in subsection (12) and the narrowing of that scope. Consequential amendments arising from this narrowing have also been made to sections 8.3, 8.4, 8.6 and 8.7, which outline the interaction of section 31E with a number of other sections in the SDCA 1999 that provide for an exemption from the charge to stamp duty.

Section 5.2 has been updated to clarify that, in relation to the indirect acquisition of residential units, no account is to be taken of any value derived from apartments.

Section 8.5 has been updated to clarify that, in relation to the refund scheme in section 83E, the acquisition of a residential unit with an existing social housing lease is not regarded as a qualifying lease for the purposes of section 83E.