Finance (No. 2) Act, 1947

PART III.

Stamp Duties.

Alteration of stamp duties on conveyances and transfers of land.

13.—(1) The stamp duties chargeable on conveyances or transfers of lands, tenements and hereditaments under the heading “Conveyance or transfer on sale of any property” in the First Schedule to the Stamp Act, 1891, as amended by subsequent enactments, shall, on and after the 1st day of December, 1947, be at the rate of two pounds ten shillings for every fifty pounds or fractional part of fifty pounds of the amount or value of the consideration in lieu of the rates immediately theretofore chargeable.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply—

(a) in the case of a conveyance or transfer by a local authority under the provisions of the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, 1890 to 1931, or the Labourers Acts, 1883 to 1941, or any Acts amending or extending those Acts, or of a conveyance or transfer by a society registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts, 1893 to 1936, and made, in accordance with a scheme for the provision of houses for its members, to a member or to such member and the spouse of the member;

(b) in any other case—

(i) where the amount or value of the consideration does not exceed five hundred pounds and the instrument contains a statement certifying that the transaction thereby effected does not form part of a larger transaction or of a series of transactions, in respect of which the amount or value, or the aggregate amount or value, of the consideration exceeds five hundred pounds, or

(ii) where the amount or value of the consideration exceeds five hundred pounds but does not exceed one thousand pounds and the instrument contains a statement certifying that the transaction thereby effected does not form part of a larger trans action or of a series of transactions.

(3) In such case as is mentioned in paragraph (b) (ii) of subsection (2) of this section the duty chargeable shall on and after the 1st day of December, 1947, be as follows:—

Where the amount or value of the consideration for the sale—

£

£

Exceeds

500

and

does

not

exceed

550

£7 10s.

550

600

£10

600

650

£15

650

700

£20

700

750

£25

750

800

£30

800

850

£35

850

900

£40

900

950

£45

950

1,000

£50

(4) The foregoing provisions of this section shall have effect if, but only if, the instrument contains a statement by the party to whom the property is being conveyed or transferred certifying that the person who becomes entitled to the entire beneficial interest in the property (or, where more than one person becomes entitled to a beneficial interest therein, each of them) is some specified one of the following:—

(a) an Irish citizen,

(b) a person who is for the time being ordinarily resident in the State and who was ordinarily resident in the State continuously during the three years immediately preceding the 15th day of October, 1947,

(c) a body corporate incorporated in the State on or before the 15th day of October, 1947,

(d) a body corporate incorporated outside the State which, on or before the 15th day of October, 1947, has filed with the registrar of companies the documents and particulars mentioned in subsection (1) of section 274 of the Companies (Consolidation) Act, 1908 ,

(e) a person lawfully carrying on a business which comes within the provisions of any paragraph of subsection (1) of section 9 of the Control of Manufactures Act, 1934 (No. 36 of 1934), or

(f) a body corporate incorporated in the State after the 15th day of October, 1947, where the issued shares of each class are, to an extent exceeding one-half (in nominal value) thereof, in the beneficial ownership of persons each of whom is within one of paragraphs (a) to (e) of this subsection.

(5) In any case in which, by virtue of subsection (4) of this section, the provisions of subsections (1), (2) and (3) of this section have no effect, the stamp duties chargeable on conveyances or transfers of lands, tenements and hereditaments under the heading “Conveyance or Transfer on sale of any property” in the First Schedule to the Stamp Act, 1891, as amended by subsequent enactments shall, on and after the 1st day of December, 1947, be at the rate (in this section referred to as the higher rate) of twenty-five pounds per cent. of the amount or value of the consideration in lieu of the rates immediately theretofore chargeable.

(6) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) of this subsection, this section shall apply to any conveyance or transfer of lands, tenements and hereditaments operating as a voluntary disposition inter vivos, and reference in this section to the amount or value of any consideration shall be construed in relation to duty chargeable on such conveyance or transfer as a reference to the value of the property.

(b) This section shall not apply to a conveyance or transfer of lands, tenements and hereditaments operating as a voluntary disposition inter vivos where the person becoming entitled to the entire beneficial interest in the property (or, where more than one person becomes entitled to a beneficial interest therein, each of them) is related to the person or each of the persons immediately theretofore entitled to the entire beneficial interest in the property in one or other of the following ways, that is to say, as a lineal descendant, brother or sister, or lineal descendant of a brother or sister, and the instrument contains a certificate to that effect by the party to whom the property is being conveyed or transferred.

(7) (a) This subsection shall apply to every conveyance or transfer of lands, tenements and hereditaments, whether on sale or operating as a voluntary disposition inter vivos, unless the person becoming entitled to the entire beneficial interest in the property, or, where more than one person becomes entitled to a beneficial interest in the property, each of them, is within one of paragraphs (a) to (f) of subsection (4) of this section.

(b) If, at the expiration of thirty days after the execution thereof, a conveyance or transfer to which this subsection applies is not stamped or is not stamped at the higher rate, a sum equal to twice the amount of the duty at the higher rate shall thereupon be a debt due to the Minister for Finance for the benefit of the Central Fund by the person to whom the property is thereby conveyed or transferred, or in case there is more than one such person, by such persons jointly and severally, and shall be payable to the Revenue Commissioners and the said sum shall be recoverable at the suit of the Attorney-General in any court of competent jurisdiction.

(c) The Revenue Commissioners may, if they think fit, at any time after the first execution of a conveyance or transfer to which this subsection applies, mitigate or remit any sum recoverable under paragraph (b) of this subsection.

(8) (a) If, before the 1st day of December, 1947, notice in writing is given to the Revenue Commissioners that a contract for the sale of any lands, tenements and hereditaments was completed before the 29th day of October, 1947, and the Revenue Commissioners are satisfied that a conveyance or transfer executed on or after the 1st day of December, 1947, gives effect to such sale, and does not give effect to a sale in respect of which a contract was completed on or after the 29th day of October, 1947, then, notwithstanding anything in the preceding subsections of this section, the stamp duties chargeable on such conveyance or transfer shall be the same as if this Act had not passed.

(b) The Revenue Commissioners may require the person by whom the notice is given to furnish to them within such time as they may prescribe such particulars as they consider necessary.

(c) A conveyance or transfer on which duty is charged in accordance with paragraph (a) of this subsection shall be deemed to be duly stamped if, but only if, the Revenue Commissioners have expressed their opinion with reference thereto in accordance with section 12 of the Stamp Act, 1891, and the instrument is stamped with a particular stamp denoting that it is duly stamped.