Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am seeking some technical information on property transactions. Property transactions take place equally throughout the year. My query is about the transitional arrangements in the budget. For the sake of argument, one twelfth of property transactions are still waiting to be stamped. The deed might be executed by the solicitor and a signed contract is delivered. People are just waiting to have it stamped. Heretofore, the Revenue online service, ROS, included a box which one would tick when filing one's return online. That would enable a person to avail of the reduced rate and, therefore, the person would get his or her certificate on that basis. However, that does not appear to be the case on this occasion.

The Revenue Commissioners issued two notes on this. First, where somebody has the contract signed and ready to go, if he or she wishes to get the deed stamped he or she must pay the full increase. He or she will get the refund back on the signing of the Finance Act. That is ridiculous. People are relying on bank finance in many of these transactions and one is asking the person to foot the cost of an additional 4% in tax for which the person is not liable. The second point made in the clarification is that one can avail of the reduced rate but the Revenue Commissioners will not give one the stamp certificate. If one does not have the stamp certificate one cannot get bank finance or register with the Property Registration Authority, PRA. In other words, it is not a solution. What can happen then is one's return could be late. If somebody's stamp duty return is late, because he or she cannot finance the additional 4%, will the Revenue Commissioners charge the person interest and penalties on that?