Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 section 37

Exchanges

Section 37 provides that where immovable property situated in the State is exchanged for any other property, stamp duty is charged on the value of the immovable property conveyed, regardless of whether any additional consideration is paid.

• An exchange of immovable property for any other property — whether movable or immovable, in the State or abroad — is treated as a conveyance on sale and charged to stamp duty accordingly.
• The chargeable consideration is the value of the immovable property situated in the State that is being conveyed or transferred, not the consideration actually passing between the parties.
• Any equality money paid to balance an exchange of unequal values is ignored when calculating the duty; duty is based solely on the value of each immovable property conveyed.
• Where the immovable property being exchanged is situated entirely outside the State, no stamp duty arises even if the instruments of exchange are executed in the State.