Revenue has no role in relation to the monitoring of overseas investment flows into the Irish property market, or the monitoring of non-resident and foreign-controlled company acquisitions of residential and commercial property, but it is in receipt of detailed information in relation to property transactions and obligations associated with ownership.
The principal data source for property transactions in Ireland are Stamp Duty Returns made to the Revenue Commissioners. Transfers of ownership of residential and commercial properties in the State must be referred to for stamp duty assessment under the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act (SDCA) 1999 and the Stamp Duty (e-Stamping of Instruments and Self-Assessment) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 234 of 2012), with limited exceptions. The data collected includes but is not limited to, the address of the property, address (i.e. territory) of the organisation involved in the transaction, and the sales price.
On the basis of data from Revenue, the CSO publishes its Residential Property Transactions release on an annual basis. This publication provides a breakdown of Non-Household transactions by NACE Sector, and crucially the territory of the participating firms.
Revenue’s processing of taxpayer information is protected under the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (1 Section 851A) which formalises taxpayer confidentiality and provides assurances that commercial information disclosed to Revenue is protected against unauthorised disclosure. As such, any reforms considered in this space would need to take place within the context of the legal obligations established in national legislation and EU law.
