Stamp Duty waiver gets one year extension

As one of its final acts as Cabinet under the previous government, the executive body again approved an extension of its stamp duty waiver initiative, this time for a further one-year period, effective March 24, 2023. 

The exemption allows for the waiver of stamp duty fees on the sale or transfer of property by a Belonger to another Belonger, regardless of the amount and reason for sale.

In its most recent post-meeting statement, it was announced that Cabinet decided that the Finance Ministry should instruct the Attorney General’s Chambers to amend the Stamp Duties Act and the Statutory Rates, Fees and Charges Act, 2005, as appropriate, and draft the requisite resolution. 

The statement also noted that the Financial Secretary was expected to submit a report to the Cabinet on the “Special Exemptions” on Stamp Duties within three months of the end of the extended period. 

The measure which is officially titled, the COVID-19 Economic Stimulus: Waiver of Stamp Duty on the Sale or Transfer of Property to Belongers on the Instrument of Sale or Transfer to a first-time Property Owners, was first introduced by former Premier Andrew Fahie in 2020.

After its first year, Fahie hailed the initiative as a success and said more than 600 Belongers had benefitted from his government’s stamp duty waiver. He also noted that people who benefited from the initiative were able to save a collective amount of $2,310,518.

When the extension was previously announced in May 2021, Fahie said this was due to a high demand from youth who expressed such interest