So, let me get this straight... The only way to succeed in avoiding the second lot of stamp duty is to close one account as another opens, even taking into account the usual long delays the banks have in setting up accounts?
Sounds to me like Cowen's measure is just a red herring - the number of people who were aware of the way his plan worked must be very few indeed. I asked my bank about this before April and was told to leave it, that I should cancel after the year had run its course. And yet when I tried to cancel early in April, I was told the year had begun anew and I was already charged €40 for the past year, and would be penalised €40 for the forthcoming one should I cancel (because it was at that stage a week into it.) Not alone that, but what of the second card I had set up to transfer to in late March? You guessed it - €40 on that as well...
Any other country in the world will allow for the ownership of bank cards without a government tax. For our current bunch of fools to think this is progressive beggars believe. This tax took in €60m last year alone! Something I'll certainly not be forgetting come next election time...