Auctioneers call for stamp duty cut on land sales

THE Institute of Professional Auctioneers and Valuers (IPAV) has called for stamp duty on farm and land sales to be reduced from 6pc to 4pc.

In its pre-budget submission to Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe, the institute said the current level of stamp duty is having a distinctly negative impact on the land market. The institute also called for the restoration of the 2pc rate for those wishing to buy one-off sites for family homes.

IPAV represents 1,300 auctioneers and valuers around the country. Chief executive Pat Davitt claims the rise in the stamp duty rate from 2pc to 6pc in last year’s budget has made it more difficult to purchase land and farms.

Describing the stamp duty costs as a discouragement to young farmers, he says that on the one hand, many farmers are operating holdings that are not economically viable because they are too small.

On the other hand younger farmers who are highly qualified with hunger and ambition to grow and develop farms are being discouraged from buying land by the increase in stamp duty introduced in last year’s budget. “These are exactly the kind of people national and EU agricultural policy seeks to encourage,” Mr Davitt said.

IPAV’s budget submission also draws attention to the impact the change in stamp duty is having on those wishing to buy one-off residential sites in the country, particularly first-time buyers. It calls for the stamp duty in such circumstances to revert to 2pc.

“A building site valued at €40,000 now has a stamp duty of €2,400, as opposed to €800 prior to the 2018 Budget,” Mr Davitt said.

“The Government needs to encourage young people in particular to live and work in rural Ireland. Our proposal is about sustainability, and it supports and underpins stated Government policy of encouraging rural enterprises.”