PROPERTY:A PROPOSAL to consider a drastic cut in the commercial rate of stamp duty arising out of the Global Irish Economic Forum has been welcomed by the Society of Chartered Surveyors.
The Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, said delegates to the forum had impressed upon him that Ireland’s rate of commercial stamp duty was not competitive.
He said Ireland’s rate of 6 per cent compares to 1 per cent in London. That meant that an American investor, for instance, investing in the Dublin market would have to devote a considerable proportion of his profit to paying stamp duty first.
Society vice-president Roland O’Connell said it would welcome plans to “investigate cuts to stamp duty on commercial properties which could stimulate foreign direct investment and create jobs”.
However, he said that the priority for Government should be ending the uncertainty around the possible retrospective banning of upward-only rent reviews, which he claimed was having a “detrimental effect” on the market.
Speaking before addressing a closed session of the forum, Mr Noonan pointed out the commercial property market in Ireland was controlled by Nama. He cautioned that it was only something that had arisen during discussions at the forum and it was not a given that it would be introduced.
“If we were thinking of changing that, now it is a good time because our take on stamp duty is so low anyway. It is always at the bottom of the market that you can change things,” he said.
Mr Noonan hoped that three or four big ideas could come out of the forum that would feed into a jobs initiative being launched next April by Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton.
