Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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334.To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated first-year and full-year cost of removing residential stamp duty with respect to the purchase of residential property by first-time buyers for property purchase values of €500,000 or less, €450,000 or less and €400,000 or less, respectively. [31940/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by Revenue that, based on stamp duty returns for 2023, the latest year for which fully analysed data is available, the estimated cost of abolishing stamp duty for first-time buyers of residential properties valued at €500,000 or less, €450,000 or less and €400,000 or less, respectively are provided in the table below.

This estimate is arrived at by taking the stamp duty returns for residential property purchases made by persons identifying themselves as first-time buyers, where the consideration was less than the suggested threshold, and taking the associated tax liability as the potential cost of exempting them from the duty.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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335.To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue in the years 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029, respectively, by increasing the rate of commercial stamp duty from 7.5% to 12.5%, excluding agricultural property and land. [31945/24]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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336.To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue in the years 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029, respectively, by increasing the rate of commercial stamp duty from 7.5% to 10 %, excluding agricultural property and land. [31946/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 335 and 336 together.

I am advised by Revenue that the estimated revenue from increasing the rate of commercial Stamp Duty from 7.5% to 10%, and from 7.5% to 12.5%, excluding the rate charged on transfers of agricultural land, is provided in the table below.

There is no information available on the Stamp Duty returns made to Revenue which would enable it to exclude transfers of agricultural property (other than agricultural land) in the preparation of these estimates.

The estimates do not take account of behavioural changes that may arise from changing the rates. I am further advised that Revenue do not provide estimates for later years due to the uncertainty surrounding such estimates.

It is important to be aware that the estimates of tax policy changes for Stamp Duty are provided on the basis of the current Budget year (2024) rather than the next Budget year (2025). The Budget year costings for 2025 are prepared for the party costings service and are used to feed into costings requested by the Department of Finance in advance of the Budget. The Revenue Pre-Budget Ready Reckoner (published end August) will also be on the basis of Budget year 2025.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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337.To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue that would be raised from restricting the employers’ PRSI exemption scheme for share-based remuneration to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029, respectively. [31955/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I am advised by Revenue that the additional revenue associated with the removal of the existing employer’s PRSI exemption, that may apply to share-based remuneration schemes operated by employers, is now estimated to be in the region of €310 million for all employers. This latest estimate is based on 2023 data, being the most recent year in respect of which Revenue has full data for.Whilst a complete breakdown of this €310 million figure by employer size is not available, a breakdown by employer size for share based remuneration that has been reported through payroll is available. The total PRSI exemption in respect of this cohort is estimated to be €237 million, of which approximately €198 million relates to large enterprises and €39 million relates to micro, small and medium enterprises.With regards the revenue that would be raised from restricting the employers’ PRSI exemption for tax years 2025 to 2029 inclusive, as it is not possible to predict the uptake on share-based remuneration schemes, an estimation cannot be provided.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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338.To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated annual revenue forgone as a result of stamp duty not being applied to share buybacks not effected by means of a stock transfer form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31960/24]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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339.To ask the Minister for Finance the estimated revenue raised in each of the years 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 by applying a 1% rate of stamp duty on all forms of share buybacks, including those effected by means other than a stock transfer form. [31961/24]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 338 and 339 together.

With respect to the Deputy’s first question,I am advised by Revenue that the Stamp Duty treatment of share buybacks depends on the form in which the shares are held and the method by which the buybacks are effected.

For shares held in certificated (i.e., paper) form, the shares may be bought back in two ways. The first is by means of a standard stock transfer form. The second is where the shareholder and the company enter into a contract or share purchase agreement for the sale of the shares, following which the shareholder hands over the share certificates to the company.

For shares held in uncertificated/dematerialised (i.e., electronic form), the shares may be bought back via an electronic settlement system. Euroclear Bank operates the settlement system for trading in Irish shares on Euronext Dublin.

Revenue has always maintained that shares bought back by means of a stock transfer form are chargeable to Stamp Duty.

Where a company enters into a contract or share purchase agreement, Revenue accepts that there is no Stamp Duty chargeable on the transaction by virtue of section 31(1)(b) of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999. This section provides for Stamp Duty to be charged in respect of any contract or agreement for the sale of any estate or interest in any property as if it were an actual conveyance on sale of the estate, interest or property. However, it specifically excludes from its scope the sale of certain property, including shares.

For shares bought back via an electronic settlement system, it has been a long-standing Revenue practice to confirm that Stamp Duty does not apply to such transactions.

I am advised that Revenue does not have comprehensive data on share buybacks as there is no statutory requirement in place for such data to be provided to them by way of a Stamp Duty return.

However, based on information provided to Revenue in relation to the Stamp Duty treatment of such transactions and on publicly available information, Revenue tentatively estimates that the annual revenue foregone as a result of share buybacks not being effected by means of a stock transfer form is as follows:

2019: €8.07million

2020: €1.75 million

2021: €11.27million

2022: €19.07 million

2023: €39.1 million

2024 YTD: €32.43 million

It is important to note that, as there is no requirement to provide Revenue with specific data on share buyback transactions, the estimates provided by Revenue are provisional in nature and subject to change.

The wide variation in the estimated annual revenue forgone is because share buyback programmes are implemented on an irregular basis by a limited number of companies.

With respect to the Deputy’s second question, I am advised by Revenue that as details of share buybacks are not required to be reported on a Stamp Duty Return, there is no available data on which to base an accurate estimate of the potential revenue raised by applying a 1% rate of Stamp Duty on all forms of share buybacks for the years he has requested. I am further advised that Revenue cannot provide estimates for later years due to the uncertainty surrounding such estimates, particularly given the discretionary nature with which share buybacks are carried out.

It should be noted that estimates in respect of changes to the rate of Stamp Duty applied to shares more generally is included in Revenue’s Ready Reckoner, which is published on the Revenue website at www.revenue.ie/en/corporate/documents/statistics/ready-reckoner.pdf. An update of the Ready Reckoner is due to issue in the coming weeks.