Stamp Duty Returns In Respect Of Business Acquisitions
The form of stamp duty return currently in use by the Revenue Commissioners does not allow an apportionment of the assets acquired to be entered in the return. In many acquisitions of businesses, the assets acquired comprise a mixture of assets, some of which attract a stamp duty charge (for example, land, goodwill, and so on) and others that do not (for example, intellectual property).
There is a risk that, if the e-stamping system is used to calculate the stamp-duty liability on such transactions, it may produce an inaccurate result. The system also requires an address for the business to be provided as a mandatory field entry. In many situations, the business assets being acquired may not include the acquisition of a business premises and, in such cases, practitioners may not be able to submit a stamp duty return in the normal way.
These problems have been brought to the attention of the Revenue Commissioners, who have indicated that they are working to resolve them, but it will be June 2010 at the earliest before they are resolved. In the meantime, it is recommended that practitioners do not rely on the calculation of stamp duty produced by the e-stamping calculator, but should compare it with their own assessment and, if necessary, seek clarification from Revenue.