Stamp Duty (FOI)

Request

The former Water’s Edge Hotel in Bouley Bay has been bought for £6.4m. How much stamp duty has been paid on this transaction?

Response

The amount of stamp duty payable is determined by the Stamp Duties and Fees (Jersey) Law 1998.

Stamp Duties and Fees (Jersey) Law 1998 (jerseylaw.je)

The exact amount of stamp duty paid for a particular contract to be registered may only be disclosed by order of the Royal Court and Article 8(2) of the Stamp Duties and Fees law simply provides:

“(2)     Proof of the registration of a chargeable document shall, for purposes of any legal proceedings, be deemed sufficient evidence that the stamp duty payable thereon has been paid.”

The requested information is therefore absolutely exempt from disclosure by virtue of Article 29 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011.

There is a spreadsheet ready reckoner to estimate the amount of stamp duty due on the Public Registry page. Please see link below. There are also online tools for estimating stamp duty provided by Jersey law firms which may be found by searching the internet for “Jersey stamp duty calculator”.

Public Registry services, fees and Stamp Duty (gov.je)

Article applied

Article 29 - Other prohibitions or restrictions

Information is absolutely exempt information if the disclosure of the information by the scheduled public authority holding it –

(a) is prohibited by or under an enactment;

(b) is incompatible with a European Union or an international obligation that applies to Jersey; or

(c) would constitute or be punishable as a contempt of court.