Emmet Scully, a partner in the business department at LK Shields Solicitors, analyses the failure of the government stamp duty trade in scheme for property developers in today’s Irish Independent.
The scheme allowed developers to defer the payment of stamp duty tax in an effort to resolve the overhang problem of 50,000 unsold properties but, according to Mr. Scully, the scheme was just too risky for property developers.
They could, in the present unstable market, lose money by joining the scheme. There was also a danger they could end up paying more tax than necessary and the requirement to value each property was too costly.
Payment of stamp duty tax by developers should have been completed abolished, according to Mr. Scully, so that developers wouldn’t have to take any risks at all.
I wonder if Mr. Scully is planning to analyse the NAMA scheme where taxpayer’s are being forced to take massive risks with no guarantees whatsoever in order to bail out developers?