Brokers to meet Revenue on stamp duty

Victor

I'm no particular fan of stamp duty, but I have the feeling this might become a nice little money spinner for the Revenue over the next year.

http://www.rte.ie/business/2006/0324/revenue.html

Brokers to meet Revenue on stamp duty
March 24, 2006 14:25

Stockbrokers are concerned that a recent decision by the Revenue on the amount of stamp duty major investors should pay could result in less investment in Irish shares. They are to meet Revenue on Monday to discuss the situation.

In Ireland, when people buy shares they have to pay 1% stamp duty. In Britain the rate is 0.5%, while it is zero in most other markets. For many years the Irish stockbrokers have felt the situation was unfair.

But major foreign investors believed they did not have to pay the tax on Irish shares if the stock was held on their behalf by brokers in Dublin. Now Revenue has clarified the position, saying investors have to pay the tax on these transactions which are called contracts for difference.

The brokers say this means the Irish Stock Exchange will lose a lot of business from foreign investors. It also means investors who had not paid in the past have to cough up the stamp duty, penalties and interest.

Blackjack

I can see this getting quite nasty. I don't have the full details to this, but understand the revenue are looking to charge Stamp on CFD's, which I'm fairly sure is not the case in most other markets that offer such contracts.

Someone in the revenue looking for a soft target methinks.