Stamp duty question?

[bonzos]

Hi guys, my wife and i bought a house in sep 2004 for €200k ,at the time we paid stamp duty of €6k (3%) even though both of us never owned a house before .we were told at the time that because the house was not a new house (we were the 2nd owners) we didnt count as first time buyers....i have mentioned this to a few people lately and they are sure that there must have been some mistake.any views on this?

 

[Darth Vader]

You were first time buyers. The fact that the property was second hand doesn’t change that. However, In 2004 First time buyers of Second-hand Residential Property were subject to stamp duty. The rate of 3% for a property worth €200,000 in September 2004 is correct. For transfers executed on or after 2 December 2004, a first time buyer would have been exempt from stamp duty on second hand properties up to a value of €317,500. Your purchase was about 3 months too early to benefit from the budget changes so the stamp duty of 3% was correct.