Sale agreed, agent now wants more

J

JackB

Guest
Hi all,

Last week my sister put a deposit down on a new house which is aprox 160sq meters. She asked was there stamp duty and explained she was selling her home to trade up. The agent said there was no stamp duty so she signed up for it. The other day she got a call from the agent to say, as she was not a FTB there was stamp duty on the new property of approx 4k.
Even is this is true, is she still entitled to the purchase she signed for? Regardless of whether its property or a product, if a price is agreed that should be final.

Any thoughts? Thanks
 
Stamp duty goes to the government not to builders or estate agent so its not really a case of the price going up. It was up to your sister to have checked out the stamp duty applicable. I don't think she really has a case, nor should she.
 
Fully agree with SSB.

Stamp Duty is a personal tax liability. It's the individuals responsibility to ensure they are tax compliant. It's nothing to do with the actual purchase of the property (she can easily purchase the property without paying the SD, she'll just be hit with large fines and interest by Revenue if/when she's caught).

A bit late seeing as the horse has bolted, but..... never take professional advice like this from an EA. There job is to sell the home, they don't specialise in the legal/taxation matters. She would have had a solicitor employed for both the sale and the purchase, they should have been the ones to guide her on her liabilities.
 
JackB - I would check directly with one of the Stamp Duty offices. Have a look at the following link.



When I bought my house (new) and having read the notes in the above link I thought that it would attract some stamp duty as it was just above the 125m sq. mark. However, when I contacted them to find out exactly how much I would have to pay I learned there were more criteria which were considered which meant I didn't pay any SD. I think the purchase price of the house also has to be above a certain amount. I can't remember now but call them to double check. It may be that your sister will still have to pay but I'd prefer to get it confirmed from the original source if I was her.
 
Jack B, sounds like your sister was given bad information. I doubt if there's anything meaningful she can do about it.
 
billabong said:
However, when I contacted them to find out exactly how much I would have to pay I learned there were more criteria which were considered which meant I didn't pay any SD.
Click to expand...
No SD, even if the property is >125sqm, if the "Chargeable Consideration" is less than €317500 (for a FTB) or €127000 for a non FTB.
Oasis said:
If the area of the house or flat is greater than 125 sq. metres (1,346 sq. feet), some stamp duty is payable if the Chargeable Consideration is above the relevant exemption threshold. (The stamp duty is assessed on either the cost of the site or 25% of the cost of the site plus the building costs (less VAT), whichever is the greater figure. This figure is called the Chargeable Consideration.
Click to expand...

The problem seems to be that the agent said there was no SD and has now informed your sister that there will be SD due. I really don't see any comeback to this situation.
The SD will be paid through your solicitor so they will (or at least should, they are specialists in this area) ensure that everything is done according to the letter of the law (that you remain tax compliant and still don't pay a cent over what's due). I would advise that your sister contact her solicitor and chat about this. She can then have full details of exactly what SD will be due and the solicitor will be able to confirm where she stands with the EA (I'm fairly sure they'll say you've no comeback, but for piece of mind check it out).
 
How much did the house cost.

I calculate the chargeable gain as follows:
You should find out the cost of the site - the builder, estate agent should be able to give you details, and the cost of the house seperately but I believe revenue may accept the following on a new house built as part of an estate.
Assume Cost of house 600K incl vat - 528,634 excl vat.
25% of 528,634 = 132,158 @ 3% = 3,965
If the cost of the site is greater than 127K then sd is payable on this.

Hope this makes sense?
 
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