The Gazette 1949-1952

upon the consideration or value o f the property passing, is unprecedented in the history of taxation, and that the public were shocked in December, 1947, when these rates o f duty were announced. Certainly, the solicitors’ profession were shocked by these proposals, and the Council at once met to consider them. The then Minister for Finance, Mr. Aiken, in introducing the proposals, stated that their object was to stop speculation in house property values which was at its peak in the Autumn o f 1947. It was not stated at that time that the tax was imposed for the purpose o f revenue. The case which was made by the Minister was that the continuing inflation in house and land property values had to be ended in the interests o f our social economy, and particularly in the interests o f persons o f modest means who were unable to purchase houses to live in, or who were induced to purchase them with the aid of loans for amounts which were beyond their means. The Council discussed the matter in the light o f this information, and it was decided, that in view o f the Minister’s statement, and whether he was right or wrong in his view that taxation o f this kind would prevent or stop in­ flation, that the Council could not, at that time, oppose the Act in principle. It was, however, decided to keep the matter in view, and to raise it with the Minister at the first opportunity after experience o f the tax would have shown its effects. As you all know, the inflation in land and house values has ended, and if the tax was imposed with this object in view, it seems to have achieved its purpose. In the view of the Council, there is no longer any case for the continuance o f this penal taxation directed at one section o f the community, namely, owners or prospective owners o f land and house property. It is questionable whether there were not other means o f discouraging inflation than a tax o f this kind; but there is certainly no longer any justification for the continuance o f the tax. The Minister for Finance, in the Budget pro­ posals, has stated that the tax must be continued for the time being, and from this statement it would appear that the increased stamp duties are being continued, not for their economic and social effects, but for fiscal reasons, and that the tax is now being regarded from the point o f view o f its yield to the Exchequer. I wish again to reiterate the unfair and penal nature o f a tax o f this kind. I f revenue is required it should not be sought from one section of the community, many o f whom are least in the position to pay it. These stamp duties have now assumed the form o f a capital levy imposed upon one particular form o f capital, namely, house property and land, and the persons from whom the levy is being exacted are in many eases, those who

for one reason or another are forced to change their residences, possibly for domestic reasons such as growing families, or persons who intend to marry, and who wish to purchase a residence in which to settle down. Both o f these classes are being mulcted to the extent o f 5 per cent, o f their capital. With regard to the duty o f 25 per cent, being exacted, in the main, from persons immigrating here from England, it is, in my personal view, questionable whether a prohibitive tax o f this kind is, in the long run, in the national interest. I f each country were to set up taxation barriers o f this kind against their neighbours, it is apparent that the flow o f commerce and ordinary international relations would be seriously impaired. Before the recent Budget proposals, a deputation from the Council was received by the Minister for Finance, with great consideration, and at a time when the demands upon him must have made it extremely inconvenient for him to receive the deputation. A reasoned statement o f the case for the abolition o f these duties was placed before him. It was pointed out that the stamp duty on the sale o f stock exchange securities is only 2 per cent., and that many stock exchange transactions are o f a speculative nature whereas there are very few speculative sales o f purchases o f land or houses at the present time, and that it is unfair to tax the purchaser from necessity o f a house at a higher rate than the speculative dealer in stocks and shares. The Minister indicated that the tax had brought in a very large sum to the Exchequer during the present year, and while he was unable, in view of the forth­ coming Budget, to give any information as to his intentions, the deputation inferred that there was little hope that the tax would be remitted in the coming Finance Act owing to the exigencies of public finance. This has been borne out by the Minister’s Budget statement; we can only hope that the Government realises the hardship which is imposed upon persons o f small means by this penal stamp duty, and that in next year’s Budget their grievances will be redressed. One o f the secondary effects o f the new rates o f stamp duty which was apparently unforeseen when the Act was passed was the state o f chaos which it caused, and which still exists, in the machinery o f assessing stamp duty, and the consequent delay in having documents o f title stamped and registered. Before December, 1947, a deed lodged in the Adjudication branch o f the Revenue Commissioners for assessment o f stamp duty could be taken up within a week with the duty assessed. The assessment and payment of stamp duty has now become an extremely complicated operation owing to the provisions of 4