The first-time-buyer relief on stamp duty for people who have undergone a judicial separation or a divorce and who are no longer living in the family home is to be extended under a new provision in the Finance Bill 2007.
Under existing laws, a person is only allowed to avail of the relief if their former spouse remains in the family home.
Brian Cowen: Hores breeding a
The new provision will ensure the individual is not disqualified from claiming the benefit as a result of the sale of the house.
Minister for Finance Brian Cowen said the provision corrects "an obvious injustice" in the existing arrangements.
Other measures included in the Bill include a new tax on breeding stallions which could provide a multi-million windfall for the Government's coffers.
Under the Finance Bill, stud owners will have to pay 12.5 per cent tax on their profits from mid-2008.
The late Charles Haughey introduced the controversial tax break when he was Finance Minister in the 1960s. According to the Finance Department, stud farms in Ireland earned about €28 million in stallion fees in 2004.
However Department officials were unable to say how much the Exchequer would gain from the new 12.5 per cent tax. Official Donal McNally said: "It depends on what profits are so it is difficult to judge."
Finance Minister Brian Cowen said that 90 per cent of all stallions are commercial failures. "This is a risky business," he added.
Ireland is the third-largest producer of stallions in the world, and the industry directly employs about 2,400 people. The stud business is a major economic driver in rural areas, the Minister noted, adding: "It would not in any way undermine the industry."
The Government was forced to drop the tax break when the EU ruled that the exemption was an illegal state aid. The exemption applies to all breeds of horse, and to greyhounds.
The Finance Bill, which will become law in late March, also includes measures to update the Business Expansion Scheme and boost tax breaks for filmmakers to attract more big movie projects.