- The St Vincent Stamp (Amendment 2021) bill
- Ease the transfer of property between and among family members
The Stamp (Amendment 2021) bill, passed in Parliament on July 8, allows for more categories of persons to receive exemptions from paying stamp duties under the Stamp Act. Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves proposed the bill, which seeks to insert additional categories such as grandchildren, brothers and sisters, spouses, and ex-spouses, to receive exemptions from stamp duties under the Stamp Act. Gonsalves believes that the inclusion of these additional categories will ease the transfer of property between and among family members.
However, opposition leader Dr Godwin Friday argued that the recent amendments made were not new but those initially removed by the current government in 2011. He stated that the amendments were made because “scampish lawyers were essentially passing off transactions that were not really deeds of gift as such to avoid stamp duty.” He expressed the view that the current amendments will help with economic activity as it allows young families to flourish if they are gifted property by grandparents, as opposed to before when they would have had to accumulate funds to pay the 10% stamp duty.
Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves contributed to debate on the bill, arguing that new circumstances have given rise to the particular provisions proposed in the 2021 amendment. He also argued that the change in 2011 only really affected the giving between brothers and sisters without stamp duty. Gonsalves further stated that the government found through a study that the change did not significantly affect transfers to grandchildren. He said the amendments in 2011 were due to issues of equity and fairness, as genuine transfers were taking place between siblings who were using the deed of gift mechanism in circumstances of a sale, in order to cheat the system.
Gonsalves added that although this helped in individual cases, it didn’t really add to what you may call home or land ownership in any significant way. Following the volcanic eruptions of April 2021, several houses in the northern parts of the island sustained significant damage. He said the amendments will allow for a seamless transfer from one relative to another, who wish to assist in these cases.