Cowen aims to prevent stamp duty evasion by home buyers

Conor Keane, Business Correspondent

It has emerged that couples were buying houses as two separate individuals in a bid to reduce the level of stamp duty.

In documentation outlining the provisions of the Finance Bill 2005, the Department of Finance states: “A practice has recently developed where a house is being bought by more than one purchaser, whereby each purchaser takes a separate conveyance in the house. This appears to be an attempt at avoiding the payment of stamp duty at the rate applicable to the total value of the house, as individual purchasers have made claims to Revenue for reduced stamp duty rates on the basis of the consideration of their individual conveyance.