Finance Act 1980

PART V Stamp Duty

95 Reduction of stamp duty on conveyances and leases

(1) In subsection (1) of section 55 of the [1963 c. 25.] Finance Act 1963 and in the Table in Part I of Schedule 11 to that Act (under which stamp duty is not chargeable on conveyances and transfers certified at £15.000 and is chargeable at reduced rates on those certified at £20.000, £25,000 and £30,000) and in subsection (1) of section 4 of the [1963 c. 22 (N.I.).] Finance Act (Northern Ireland) 1963 and in the Table in Part I of Schedule 1 to that Act (which make similar provision for Northern Ireland) for “£15,000”, “£20,000”, “£25,000”, and “£30,000”, wherever occurring, there shall be substituted respectively “£20,000 ” , “£25,000 ”, “£30,000 ” and “£35,000 ”.

(2) In subsection (2) of the said section 55 and of the said section 4 (under which the relief afforded by subsection (1) of those sections is not available as respects the duty chargeable in respect of the premium for a lease if the consideration includes rent exceeding £150 a year) for “£150 ” there shall be substituted “£250 ”.

(3) In the heading “Lease or Tack” in Schedule 1 to the [1891 c. 39.] Stamp Act 1891 as it applies throughout the United Kingdom—

(a) in paragraph (2)(a) (duty where definite term less than a year of furnished dwelling-house and rent exceeds £250) for “£250 ” there shall be substituted “£400 ” , and

(b) in the Table in paragraph (3) (which provides for duty on rent in the case of any other term and the first column of which indicates the rent, the second column the duty where the term does not exceed 7 years or is indefinite, the third column the duty where the term exceeds 7 years but not 35 years, the fourth column the duty where the term exceeds 35 years but not 100 years and the fifth column the duty where the term exceeds 100 years) for the last entry there shall be substituted—

“Exceeding £250 and not exceeding £300.	Nil	6.00	36.00	72.00
Exceeding £300 and not exceeding £350.	Nil	7.00	42.00	84.00
Exceeding £350 and not exceeding £400.	Nil	8.00	48.00	96.00
Exceeding £400 for any full sum of £50 and also for any fractional part thereof.	0.50	1.00	6.00	12.00”

(4) This section applies to instruments executed on or after 6th April 1980 and shall be deemed to have come into force on that date.

96 Loan capital denominated in sterling

(1) Section 126 of the [1976 c. 40.] Finance Act 1976 (exemption for transfers of loan capital) shall be amended as follows.

(2) In subsection (5)—

(a) after “(5)” there shall be inserted the words “Subject to subsection (5A) below, ”;

(b) in paragraph (a) after the words “the United Kingdom ” there shall be inserted the words “or elsewhere ”;

(c) in paragraph (b) the words “within the commonwealth ” shall be omitted.

(3) After subsection (5) there shall be inserted—

“(5A) Subsection (5) above does not apply to loan capital issued or raised by a body formed or established outside the United Kingdom or by the government of any country or territory outside the commonwealth unless it is denominated in sterling.”

(4) This section does not affect any instrument executed before the commencement of this Act.

97 Shared ownership transactions

(1) A lease to which this section applies shall, instead of being chargeable with stamp duty under the heading “Lease or Tack ” in Schedule 1 to the [1891 c. 39.] Stamp Act 1891, be chargeable with stamp duty under the heading “Conveyance or Transfer on Sale ” in that Schedule as if it were a conveyance for a consideration equal to the value stated in the lease in accordance with subsection (2) id) below; and where stamp duty has been paid on a lease in accordance with this section stamp duty shall not be chargeable under that Act on any instrument executed in pursuance of the lease whereby the reversion is transferred to the lessee.

(2) This section applies to any lease granted by a body mentioned in subsection (3) below, being a lease which—

(a) is of a dwelling for the exclusive use of the lessee or, if there are joint lessees, of those lessees ;

(b) is granted partly in consideration of a premium calculated by reference to the market value of the dwelling at the time of the grant and partly in consideration of rent;

(c) provides for the lessee to acquire the reversion ; and

(d) contains a statement of the market value referred to in paragraph (b) above and a statement to the effect that the parties intend duty to be charged in accordance with this section by reference to that value.

(3) The bodies referred to in subsection (2) above are—

(a) a local authority within the meaning of Part V of the [1957 c. 56.] Housing Act 1957;

(b) a housing association registered under section 13 of the [1974 c. 44.] Housing Act 1974 or Article 13 of the [S.I. 1976/1780.] Housing (Northern Ireland) Order 1976 ;

(c) a development corporation established by an order made, or having effect as if made, under the [1965 c. 59.] New Towns Act 1965 ;

(d) the Commission for the New Towns ;

(e) the Development Board for Rural Wales;

(f) the Northern Ireland Housing Executive ;

(g) the Council of the Isles of Scilly.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (1) above an instrument transferring a reversion shall not be regarded as executed in pursuance of a lease in respect of which duty has been paid in accordance with this section unless it contains a statement to the effect that it has been so executed.

98 Maintenance funds for historic buildings

(1) No stamp duty shall be chargeable on any instrument whereby property ceases to be comprised in a settlement if as a result of the property or part of it becoming comprised in another settlement (otherwise than by virtue of the instrument itself) there is by virtue of section 89(4)(d) or 90(1) above no charge to capital transfer tax by reference to the value of the property ceasing to be comprised in the settlement or a reduced charge to tax by virtue of section 90(3) above; but where only part of the property becomes comprised in the other settlement this subsection shall not affect the stamp duty chargeable on the instrument by reference to the other part.

(2) An instrument in respect of which stamp duty is not chargeable by virtue only of this section or in respect of which the duty chargeable is reduced by virtue of this section shall not be treated as duly stamped unless it is stamped in accordance with section 12 of the [1891 c. 39.] Stamp Act 1891 with a stamp denoting that it is not chargeable with any duty or that it is duly stamped.

99 Charitable covenants for variable amounts

(1) No stamp duty shall be chargeable by virtue of the heading in Schedule 1 of the Stamp Act 1891 “Deed of any kind whatsoever, not described in this Schedule” on any covenant made otherwise than for consideration in money or money's worth in favour of a body of persons or trust established for charitable purposes only whereby annual payments become payable for a period which may exceed three years and is not capable of earlier termination under any power exercisable without the consent of the persons for the time being entitled to the payments.

(2) This section applies to covenants executed on or after 6th April 1980 and shall be deemed to have come into force on that date.

100 Dealers in unlisted securities

(1) Section 42 of the [1920 c. 18.] Finance Act 1920 (reduction of stamp duty on transfers of stocks to jobbers when jobbers transfer stock to bona fide purchasers within two months) shall have effect with the following amendments.

(2) In subsection (1) after the words “jobber or his nominee ” there shall be inserted the words “or to a qualified dealer ”,

and in the proviso to that subsection after the word “jobber ” in each place where it occurs there shall be inserted the words “or qualified dealer ”.

(3) In subsection (2) of that section after the words “the jobber to whom or to whose nominee the transfer was made ” there shall be inserted the words “or, as the case may be, the qualified dealer to whom the transfer was made ”.

(4) At the end of the definition of “stock ” in subsection (3) there shall be added the words " but, in the case of a transfer to a qualified dealer, does not include—

(a) stock issued by any body corporate or other body of persons formed or established outside the United Kingdom, or

(b) stock which is listed in the Official List of The Stock Exchange;

The expression “qualified dealer ” means a person who—

(a) holds a principal's licence within the meaning of the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act 1958 or the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act (Northern Ireland 1940, or

(b) is an exempted dealer within the meaning of either of those Acts, or

(c) is a member of a body which is a recognised association of dealers in securities for the purposes of either of those Acts, or

(d) is a Stock Exchange broker, that is to say a member of The Stock Exchange who is recognised by the Council thereof as carrying on the business of a broker and carries on that business in the United Kingdom ".

101 Unit trusts

No stamp duty shall be chargeable on any transfer of any unit in an authorised unit trust to which section 60 above applies and under the terms of which the funds of the trust cannot be invested in any investment on the transfer of which ad valorem stamp duty would be chargeable.

102 Conveyance in consideration of debt

(1) Where—

(a) any property is conveyed to any person wholly or in part in consideration of a debt due to him; and

(b) apart from this section the consideration in respect of which the conveyance would be chargeable with ad valorem duty by virtue of section 57 of the [1891 c. 39.] Stamp Act 1891 (which deems the debt to be the consideration) would exceed the value of the property conveyed,

that consideration shall be treated as reduced to that value.

(2) Where subsection (1) above applies in relation to any conveyance, it shall not be treated as duly stamped unless it is stamped in accordance with section 12 of the said Act of 1891 with a stamp denoting that it is not chargeable with any duty or that it is duly stamped.

103 Admission of Northern Ireland barristers etc.

Section 2 of the [1926 c. 24 (N.I.).] Finance (Stamp Duty) Act (Northern Ireland) 1926 (stamp duty on admission to degree of barrister-at-law or as student of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland) and section 3 of that Act (payments to the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland out of the proceeds of stamp duty) shall cease to have effect.