Sherry FitzGerald calls for elimination of stamp duty

Estate agents Sherry FitzGerald have today called for the Government to eliminate stamp duty for first time buyers in the forthcoming Budget 2007.

Chief economist with the Sherry FitzGerald Group Marian Finnegan said: “The penalising rate of stamp duty applicable to first time buyers in the second-hand market is acting as a barrier to entry for this cohort of the population into the established property market.

"The decision to increase the threshold for stamp duty from €190,501 to €317,000 in Budget 2005 went some way to addressing this situation but it is not far enough.

"The divergent treatment of first time buyers in the new homes and second-hand market has for too long created an unnatural bias against investing in the second-hand market. This bias needs to be addressed with urgency.”

Exchequer figures released recently illustrate that the Government are in receipt of some where in the region of €2.35bn in stamp duty in the eight months to August 2006, a 43% increase on the same period in 2005.

If historical trends continue approximately 75% of this will have been raised through property related transactions, a half of which will relate to residential property. This is equivalent to over €100m per month raised through residential stamp duty.