Stamp duty is around to stay, government cant afford to get rid of it!
Now that poor builders are rich, isn't it time to do the obvious ? Abolish SD !!
( rant over !)
Michael McDowell is promising to reform the Stamp Duty system. He says "the Govt do not need all the money that comes in from this tax".
By reforming the stamp duty system, he might only be talking about doing something such as removing the annual stamp duty on credit cards... I'm not convinced any of the politicians want to get their hands dirty by tinkering with the property market at this stage.
There is a bit of a myth about stamp duty as it is not a tax on the buyer but on the seller - nobody quite realises this. The former Minister for Finance was in full agreement with me in this regard, as he stated in this House not very long ago.
Let me explain what I mean. If one buys a house and pays 6% or 7% of the cost as stamp duty, or 9% if one pays at the top rate, one must have the money to do so. One must have borrowed it or acquired it somehow and have it in one’s back pocket.
If there were no stamp duty, one would pay the same price for a house because the price would simply increase accordingly. The buyer, who would have the money to pay if there were stamp duty, would be prepared to pay the same amount if there were none. It does not matter to the buyer whether the money is spent on stamp duty or on the house and therefore the person who is actually getting less from this system is the seller.
Stamp duty is therefore a tax on the seller although it does not appear to be so.
On the same topic - did anybody see the "PrimeTime" discussion on the Mcdowells kite flying stunt last night?
Nah, I don't have a TV anymore. The bill for the license fee arrived about the same time as RTE ran "It's my party" and I decided I'd be better off without it.
Cheers for the entertaining rundown on last night's Primetime though, I'm glad to see I'm not missing much!
Stamp Duty Must Be Reformed !
For the first time in years we are looking at a sufficient build up in housing supply that downward pressure is being exerted on asking prices. A slight advantage now exists for the buyer who even has the option of waiting to allow further downward pressure on prices to develop!
This situation cannot be allowed to continue. It is imperative that the government does something to kick-start bidding wars again to
keep property prices accelerating and borrowing to the absolute maximum. There is a clear threat to property interest and bank profitability here
so it must be addressed as soon as possible.
If the actions can be dressed up to appear for the benefit of the poor first time buyer then all the better. If house prices and bank
profits accelerate again it can be put down to the usual: booming economy, we're so wealthy etc. These are readily accepted.
p.s. It is vital that any discussion or media coverage begins with the premise that stamp duty should be reformed and not approach
the question of whether reform will actually reduce prices for first time buyers.
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