Property buyers who signed their final deed over the past few weeks, spending thousands of euro on stamp duty, are calling on the government to include them in the recently announced duty-slashing measure.

They argue it not fair that the measure includes those who extended their promise of sale agreement – as they were allowed to do due to the pandemic – but does not apply to those who “against all odds and safety measures”  signed the final deed in the midst of COVID-19.

In one of the measures announced on Monday aimed at boosting business, stamp duty on property purchases up to €400,000 was reduced from five per cent to 1.5 per cent for buyers.

The measure applies to contracts on residential property published between now until the end of March 2021, including delayed final deeds.

But for those who dared to take the plunge over the last three months, despite the difficult circumstances, it is being seen as something of a blow and they feel they are not being treated equally.

A woman who, along with her husband spent €15,300 in tax on a new property in St Julian’s intended for the short-let market explained:

“We had signed the promise of sale in December. Weeks later the COVID-19 situation arose and we knew the short-let industry would not work,” she recalled. A good investment had turned into a major risk. 

The couple contemplated dropping the promise of sale agreement and risk losing some €35,000. But they decided to go ahead and signed the contract on May 25. Two weeks, later the government announced a stamp duty reduction.

She is not alone in wanting to be included in the new assistance scheme. Several other people voiced their concern in a closed Facebook group.

One woman signed the final deed in April.

“Had this incentive been introduced only for new promises of sale entered into after June 9, I would understand that the intention was purely to boost the economy moving forward,” she said, wanting to remain anonymous.

“However, having read that it also applies to all pending promises of sale, I strongly feel that we genuine citizens who made an extra effort to go out of our way for the sake of the seller should be eligible for a refund based on equality for all during the hard times we endured together.”

Questions sent to the Finance Ministry were not replied by the time of writing.