Stamp duty blunders leave investors €50million out of pocket
 
GETTING YOUR OVERPAID STAMP DUTY REFUNDED DIRECTLY TO YOU

STAMP duty has been an integral part of the cost investors when buying new homes to let. In the 2008 budget steps  were taken to the lower  the effect  on our pockets but thanks to the expert advice  from Loweq Financial Consultants Investors are now in a  position to claim back the overpayments of Stamp that were made wrongly on their behalf in the past.

 It is our considered opinion that investors in the buy  to let market have been left in excess of €50million out of the pocket in recent  years by the over calculation of stamp duty on the purchase of new homes to let.
Ever since VAT was applied to new homes in the late 80’s the calculation of stamp duty has been open to errors. In some cases the VAT was just not deducted before calculating the stamp duty which led to the over stamping of many properties. At loweq financial consultants we are very concerned that in the past stamps duty has been miscalculated in thousands of cases. Overpayments to the stamp office have occurred in the past and are continuously being made on behalf of investors.

We have discovered mistakes amounting to thousands of euro in some cases.
 The overpayments can vary in amount for example a new home costing €140,000 the error amounted to €4,200 because the stamp was calculated at 3% on the full price when in fact it was exempt from stamp altogether once VAT was properly accounted for.

On a property costing €285,000 the error amounted to €4, 206 because in the case the stamp was calculated @5% on the full prices instead of @4% on the pre-VAT price.

As you go up the price range  the bigger the amount  if the error; so the case of a  property costing €430,000 the error amounted to €9,519.

Note that the examples above  relate to the period between Jan 1st 2003  and Dec 5th 2007 and take into  account both the VAT  and stamp duty  rates prevailing during that time.

“ My solicitor insisted that I pay €28,875 in stamp duty on my investement property but Fergal O’ Gara at Loweq made sure that my liability was only €20,353.” (Aubrey, private investor)

By not deducting all the VAT before submitting the stamp duty not alone was the VAT amount then taxed for stamp duty but it also led in many cases to wrong and higher % rate of stamp duty being applied.

In summary, stamp duty has been charged in many cases on top of VAT, which in effect amounts to double taxation. Many errors of this type have led , in our expert opinion, to stamp duty overpayments in excess of €50million on residential investment property (new homes to let market).

The good news is that it is all refundable: you just need to find out first if you were  a victim, and then we at loweq can help you to straighten it out  and get some cash back into your own hands.

“How did I find out if I’ve been overstamped?”

First of all, investors need to have answers for the following questions:

1. Did I buy a new (not second-hand) home to let since 1989?
2. What price was the property?
3. What was the date of my purchase?
4. What was the amount of stamp duty that I paid?

If you supply above information to us at Loweq we will confirm immediately whether or not the stamp duty was overpaid in your case, you may then choose whether to avail of a complete service from loweq, in which case we will reclaim the overpayment on your behalf until you are satisfied we have secured a refund from the Revenue Commissioners directly to you.

“I bought a new investment home last year and paid the stamp duty in normal way; then later when Fergal at loweq was dealing with an other matter in relation to my investment  property purchase he pointed out to me that the stamp duty was in fact overpaid to the tune of almost €4,000. Now thanks to the expert services of Loweq Financial Consultants the overpayment has been fully refunded to me by the Revenue Commissioners.”
                  Joseph, (Property Investor, Donegal)

Over the last number of years at loweq we have ensured that our many clients have successfully been fully refunded of these overpaid amounts directly from Revenue. Our aim at loweq is to help investors by providing a fully professional and efficient service in that regard.