Vol. 516 No. 6
261 Mr. Kirk asked the Minister for Finance if he will have an examination carried out of associated costs for those organising mortgage change cover for the same property; if he will examine matters such as stamp duty; and if he will explore the possibility of cost reduction in these areas. [8881/00]
A stamp duty charge of 0.1% is payable on mortgages over £20,000. However, there is a ceiling of £500 on the amount which can be charged on any mortgage. Stamp duty is effectively a charge on documents in order for the document to have legal standing. There is no provision for a stamp duty exemption for mortgage change cover for the same property. This modest charge yielded £7.86 million in 1999 and permits the easement of taxation in other areas most notably income tax. Consequently, I have no plans to remove or reduce this charge at present.
