Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 September 2022
421. Deputy Seán Haughey asked the Minister for Finance if he will waive the €30 stamp duty that has been imposed on customers of banks (details supplied) who must close their accounts and move to another provider particularly in circumstances in which the stamp duty is not due to be paid for several months; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44231/22]
View answerI am informed by Revenue that there is no Government charge for closing a credit card account per se.
However, section 124 of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 provides for an annual stamp duty at the rate of €30 to be charged on credit card accounts. In that context, I can confirm that the charge under section 124 is applied where a credit card account is maintained with a financial institution at any time during the 12-month period ending on 1 April in any year.
The €30 charge applies to the account and not to the card - the number of cards issued to that account are not relevant. Stamp duty is charged to the account on 1 April each year in arrears unless the account is closed during the year. If the account is closed during a year and the card is cancelled, this will result in the €30 charge to stamp duty being applied on the date of closure.
Where an account is closed and a stamp duty charge is applied, the financial institution should provide the account holder with a letter of closure, provided he or she has paid the €30 charge. In such circumstances, if the account holder opens a new account with another financial institution, he or she will not have to pay a stamp duty charge on the 1 April following the account closure if he or she presents this letter to the new financial institution.
Revenue has published guidance on stamp duty on credit and other financial cards on its website, which is available at Stamp Duty on financial cards (revenue.ie).
I hope this clarifies the matter.
