closing a credit card account

sfhawke7w

not sure if this the right place but need some help.

have a credit card that have finally cleared the balance down to €14.52, and that is what is stated on the bill, however i spoke to the credit card company in question and they said when the balance is clear can close the account. that is fine agreed with that. however received a letter last week stating that to close the account i had to pay €30.00 stamp duty. now i know there was stamp duty charged on the card earlier in the year. Also i dont have the card have had no actual card for nearly two years and the only transactions have been payments. my problem is why wasnt i told about this charge to close the account.

am just wondering has anyone else ran into this problem and is the stamp duty charge for the year previous or the year forward.

seamus

Stamp duty on credit cards is collected in arrears.

That means that the stamp duty you paid back in April, covered the year 1st April 2007 - 31st March 2008.

At the moment, you have not paid your stamp duty on the card for the period 1st April 2008 - 31st March 2009, so in order to cancel your card, you will have to pay this stamp duty.

There's nothing the bank can do about this, you can thank the government.

From here: http://www.revenue.ie/index.htm?/leaflets/financial.htm

Frequently Asked Questions
What if I close my account but do not switch to a new account?

You will generally have to pay stamp duty when you close the credit card or charge card account. The Bank/Credit Card Company is liable for stamp duty on any credit card account or charge card account maintained at any time in the preceding year and is entitled to collect the charge off you. You should seek confirmation from your Bank/Credit Card Company that the account is closed to avoid future stamp duty charges being raised against the account.

sunny2004

Yep, thats the way it works, no way of avoiding it !
But look on the bright side ! you got rid of your balance !

sfhawke7w

thanks for the replies. was more annoyed with them not telling me about the stamp duty, i had made a final payment and then a letter landed saying i was being charged late fees so rang to confirm the exact balance was told 14 euros and then i specifically asked will that def be the last amount because i wanted the account closed, was told yes, only than a letter to land looking for the 30.00 to close the account.

axer

sfhawke7w wrote: »

my problem is why wasnt i told about this charge to close the account.

The person you talked to probably didn't think of it just like you didnt think of it. Its not like they are throwing an extra charge on it themselves - it is a government tax.

whippet

I recently closed two credit card accounts, both companies made me aware of the stampduty charge almost immediatly .. one company MBNA actually tried to use it as a means of encouraging me to keep the account open until April, as I would have to pay the stamp duty regardless !!

I must say, after years and years of having credit cards, now that I don't have one ... I wonder why I ever thought i needed them !!

chuckles30

I had the same thing as whippet last year with halifax when I tried to close a credit card account. They were saying, oh you'll have to pay the tax, so you may as well keep the account open. I said 'no thanks' just send me the bill and I closed the account. I actually had to pay €40 as that was the charge last year, and completely out of the blue I got a cheque for €10 back from them recently as the charge was reduced to €30