Stamp duty is charged on the instruments used in the transfer of property – that is, on the conveyance documents that transfer ownership of the property. In general, the only factor affecting the amount of stamp duty is the value of the property. Stamp duty applies to residential property such as houses, apartments or sites with agreement to build. It is also payable on non-residential property, that is, land or housing sites without residential buildings.
“Residential property” includes houses, apartments and any site that is bought with a connected agreement to build residential property on it. If you buy a site in connection with (or as part of) an arrangement to build a house or apartment on it, then stamp duty will be charged at the residential property rate on the total of the site cost and the building cost. If you buy a site with no connected arrangement to build a house or apartment on it, then stamp duty will be charged on the site cost at the non-residential property rate.
| Property value | Rate of Duty |
| First €1,000,000 | 1% |
| Excess over €1,000,000 | 2% |
A reduced Stamp Duty rate of 1% applies to transfers of farmland between certain blood relatives. This relief is being extended by five years to 31 December 2028.
In Budget 2025, the Government announced 2 changes to stamp duty on property:
- A new 6% stamp duty rate for residential properties valued at more than €1.5 million. This 6% rate applies to the amount you pay above €1.5 million. The lower rates of 1% and 2% apply to the amount below €1.5 million.
- Stamp duty for people who buy 10 or more residential houses in a year went up from 10% to 15%.
These stamp duty changes came into effect on 2 October 2024. However, there are transitional arrangements if you had a contract in place before 2 October 2024.
A revised bank levy is being introduced for 2024, which will be payable by banks which received State assistance. The target yield for the levy for 2024 is €200 million. It will replace the current bank levy, which is based on the Deposit Interest Retention Tax paid by the banks in a specified year and is due to expire on 31 December 2023.