Gerard Murphy (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 270: To ask the Minister for Finance if she will make a special allowance to waive the stamp duty of €30,000 under the favourite nephew clause; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35429/06]

Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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As regards liability to stamp duty, in normal circumstances where property is transferred upon death no stamp duty is liable. However, if the transfer in question from uncle to nephew was by way of gift, stamp duty liability may arise.

Stamp duty relief is available on the transfer of farm lands by way of gift or sale, where the farmer receiving the land is aged under 35 years and has attained relevant educational qualifications. The required qualifications are listed in the Revenue Commissioners leaflet SD2A, which is available on their website. The relief is intended to encourage the transfer of land to young farmers who have successfully undergone agricultural training. If the individual in question meets the educational qualifications under this scheme he may qualify for stamp duty relief. Where the individual in question does not qualify for young trained farmer stamp duty relief, and where the farm is transferred to him by a relative, he may qualify for a 50% relief on the stamp duty otherwise chargeable, as a relative of the person transferring the land.

Favourite niece/nephew relief is a Capital Acquisitions Tax relief that is available to certain nephews and nieces who take a gift or an inheritance of a business or farm from a disponer. In order to qualify for the relief, the beneficiary must be a child of a brother or sister of the disponer (in other words, a nephew/niece in law will not qualify) and he/she must have worked substantially on a full-time basis for the disponer for a minimum of five years ending on the date of the gift or inheritance. This relief is intended to take account of the close working relationship that exists between certain nieces/nephews and their uncles/aunts and is not intended to apply generally to all gifts or inheritances taken by nieces/nephews.