Land Registry fees, which are payable on the registration of transfers on sale, are charged by the Property Registration Authority on a scale that is based on the consideration (i.e. price paid), expressed in the Deed. In the case of an exchange of land, the registration fee is charged on a scale that is based on the amount of money paid in equality of exchange. In both sales and exchanges of land, the scaled registration fee commences at €400. The registration fee for a voluntary transfer is the fixed fee of €130. In the case of a boundary rectification, which is perfected by consent of the affected owners, the registration fee would be €40.
Section 21(2) of the Registration of Deeds and Title Act 2006 provides that registration fees shall not be fixed at a level which is less than that sufficient to discharge the operational cost and expenses under that Act and the Registration of Title Act 1964. The current Fees Order, the Land Registration Fees Order 2012 (S.I. No. 380 of 2012) came into effect on 1 December 2012 and sets the fees at the level required to meet this statutory obligation. All Land Registry fees are paid into and disposed of for the benefit of the Exchequer in accordance with the directions of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
The Fees Order sets out the fees payable on the making of an application for registration in the Land Registry. It is the Fees Order, operative on the day of lodgement of the application for registration in the Land Registry, that governs the fees payable. I have already made the Land Registration (Fees) (Amendment) Order 2013 (S.I. No. 21 of 2013) which put in place transitional arrangements in respect of cases which were first lodged prior to 1 December 2012 and subsequently rejected by the Land Registry. The Amendment Order specifically provides that any applications, which were lodged prior to 1 December 2012 and subsequently rejected, may be relodged prior to 31 December 2013 and will be charged according to the fees that were payable immediately prior to the coming into force of the 2012 Fees Order. There is also provision made in the Amendment Order for a limited number of cases, which would have been lodged prior to 1 December 2012, were it not for unavoidable delays in retrieving stamp certificates from the Revenue Commissioners. While I have no plans at this time to make any further amendments to the 2012 Fees Order, I will continue to keep this matter under review.
