Stamp duty is a one-off tax you pay to Revenue when you buy a home in Ireland, calculated as a percentage of the purchase price. For most buyers it's a five-figure cost that's easy to forget about while focusing on the deposit and mortgage — but it's due on closing day, in cash, alongside your deposit and legal fees.
The current rate bands
Since Budget 2025 (in effect from 2 October 2024), residential stamp duty is charged on a banded basis:
- 1% on the portion of the price up to €1,000,000
- 2% on the portion between €1,000,000 and €1,500,000
- 6% on any portion above €1,500,000
The bands work the same way income tax bands do — only the slice of the price that falls into a higher band is taxed at the higher rate. A €1,750,000 home, for example, pays 1% on the first €1m (€10,000), 2% on the next €500,000 (€10,000), and 6% on the final €250,000 (€15,000) — €35,000 in total, not 6% of the full price.
For the vast majority of buyers, whose purchase price is well under €1,000,000, the calculation is simple: stamp duty is 1% of the price.
New builds: stamp duty applies to a lower base
If you're buying a new-build home, the advertised price includes VAT at 13.5%. Stamp duty is charged on the VAT-exclusive base — the site cost plus building cost — not the VAT-inclusive price you see advertised. In practice, that means dividing the advertised price by 1.135 before applying the bands above, which works out a little lower than treating the full advertised price as the stamp duty base.
This distinction matters more as the price climbs toward the €1,000,000 first-band threshold, since it can be the difference between staying entirely in the 1% band or tipping into the 2% band on a slice of the price.
When is it paid, and by whom?
Stamp duty is paid by the buyer, not the seller, and is collected as part of the conveyancing process — your solicitor files the Stamp Duty Return and pays it to Revenue out of the closing funds, typically within 44 days of signing the deed of transfer. You don't need to deal with Revenue directly; you do need to make sure the cash is available alongside your deposit.
How it fits into the total cost of buying
Stamp duty is just one of several upfront, non-mortgage costs — alongside legal fees, a structural survey, and Land Registry fees — that buyers often underestimate. Schemes like Help to Buy can offset some of this for first-time buyers on new builds, but stamp duty itself isn't reduced or waived by any current scheme.
Our Total Cost of Buying calculator works out your stamp duty automatically (including the new-build VAT adjustment), combines it with your deposit and other fees, and shows how Help to Buy or the First Home Scheme change the cash you actually need on closing day.
Frequently asked questions
Is stamp duty different for first-time buyers? No — unlike some other countries, Ireland doesn't currently offer a reduced stamp duty rate for first-time buyers. The same bands apply regardless of buying history; first-time buyer support comes through separate schemes like Help to Buy and the First Home Scheme instead.
Does stamp duty apply to the deposit you put down, or the full price? The full purchase price (or the VAT-exclusive base, for new builds) — not just the mortgage portion or the deposit portion. It's calculated on the total consideration paid for the property.
Can stamp duty be added to the mortgage? Generally no — lenders calculate your mortgage based on the purchase price and your deposit, and expect stamp duty and other closing costs to be funded separately from your own savings, not financed.