Following considerable political pressure, the Irish Government has included a number of anti-avoidance measures in the Finance Act 2007 which, if brought into force, would in large measure close off certain lawful stamp duty planning techniques, such as ‘resting on contract’ and building licences, which have been widely used in recent years in structuring commercial and residential property developments.
The new anti-avoidance measures have not yet taken effect and will only come into force by way of future ministerial order. It is unusual for anti-avoidance legislation to not take effect immediately and the Department of Finance and the Irish revenue commissioners are tight-lipped over their plans for how and when the rules will come into force.
