FG pledge to reform stamp duty

[David Cochrane]

Fine Gael has promised to reform stamp duty if it gets into Government.

Speaking at his party's Ard Fhéis in Dublin, Fine Gael leader, Enda Kenny said there was a huge turnout for the event, which he suggested reflected peoples desire for change.

Mr Kenny has said the coming general election would be the most competitive in 25 years.

Fine Gael pledged that first time buyers would not have to pay any stamp duty on houses costing up to €450,000 and would only be charged duty on the excess over that price. - RTE News

[rockofcashel]

good man enda, thats about 2-3% of FTB's looked after ...

[meriwether]

good man enda, thats about 2-3% of FTB's looked after ...

97-98% of FTB's buy a house worth more than 450,000?

[rockofcashel]

good man enda, thats about 2-3% of FTB's looked after ...

97-98% of FTB's buy a house worth more than 450,000?

Not great at the maths Meri.. 97-98% of FTB's by a house worth less than 450,000, so any reform of the system up to that point, is damn all use to them.

Now, to give credit to Cowen, reforming mortgage interest relief, benefits nearly every single FTB. Thats the difference between good policy making, and pandering to the Sindo

[smiffy]

good man enda, thats about 2-3% of FTB's looked after ...

97-98% of FTB's buy a house worth more than 450,000?

Not great at the maths Meri.. 97-98% of FTB's by a house worth less than 450,000, so any reform of the system up to that point, is damn all use to them.

Hang on ... what?

[qtman]

Fine Gael pledged that first time buyers would not have to pay any stamp duty on houses costing up to €450,000 and would only be charged duty on the excess over that price. - RTE News

2 years ago, FG pledged to remove SD for FTBs up to the value of 350k. This was then introduced by FF.

Now, they're back and its 450k, and it still isn't any easier for FTBs to buy a house.

The only people who benefit from this are people selling houses worth less than 450k. The SD will now go to them instead of the Exchequer.

[meriwether]

good man enda, thats about 2-3% of FTB's looked after ...

97-98% of FTB's buy a house worth more than 450,000?

Not great at the maths Meri.. 97-98% of FTB's by a house worth less than 450,000, so any reform of the system up to that point, is damn all use to them.

Now, to give credit to Cowen, reforming mortgage interest relief, benefits nearly every single FTB. Thats the difference between good policy making, and pandering to the Sindo

Im afraid your logic has me lost.
If 97-98% buy a house, under 450k (your figure), its only going to help 2-3% (your figure)?

[rockofcashel]

good man enda, thats about 2-3% of FTB's looked after ...

97-98% of FTB's buy a house worth more than 450,000?

Not great at the maths Meri.. 97-98% of FTB's by a house worth less than 450,000, so any reform of the system up to that point, is damn all use to them.

Now, to give credit to Cowen, reforming mortgage interest relief, benefits nearly every single FTB. Thats the difference between good policy making, and pandering to the Sindo

Im afraid your logic has me lost.
If 97-98% buy a house, under 450k (your figure), its only going to help 2-3% (your figure)?

Here is the logic Meri..

FG make a big announcement saying that they will reform stamp duty.

They think they will recieve much kudo's from it.

The reform only affects 2% of people.

Their opponents reform mortgage interest relief. That effects 70-80% of people.

who is making more people happy ?

[smiffy]

The reform only affects 2% of people.

This is the bit I don't really understand. I'm assuming when you say 2% of people, this means 2% of first-time-buyers (as that's the phrase you used above).

Now, if the stamp-duty exemption threshold is raised from 317,500 to 450,000, surely that affects all FTBs buying a property for more than the original threshold, not the revised one, but up to the revised threshold. In addition, if the duty is applied only the excess and not on the total value, surely this then benefits all FTBs. What am I missing here?

I'm not supporting the Fine Gael proposals, and certainly take qtman's point about stamp duty revisions only benefitting the seller (although that does depend on the nature of the market at any given time). I really just don't understand the basis of your argument about the 2%.

[hmmm]

I was all set for the first time ever to vote FG, but this so called "reform" has put that notion out of my mind. As mentioned, most FTBs don't pay stamp duty, so spinning it as helping FTBs is incorrect. It's actually the reverse

The people it helps most are
a) Investors, who will pay less stamp duty and will be able to compete even more with FTBs
b) Property owners who are selling. They will just pocket the stamp they would otherwise have paid.

€400m a year in a handout to two relatively rich sections of society who are doing very well already, it's a disgrace. I'm no left of centre voter, but even I am disgusted at the thought of my tax money being used to bail out my idiot landlord who overpaid for his "investment".