Changes To Guernsey's Document Duty Laws

On 15^th November 2017, The Document Duty (Guernsey) Law 2017 came into force, bringing the payment of duty on transfer of real property (houses and land) more into line with modern life. The related Document Duty (Anti-Avoidance) (Guernsey) Law 2017 will make sure that similar property transactions are subject to the same amounts of duty. It is important to note that the new laws affect the island of Guernsey only, so not Sark and Alderney.

The Document Duty (Guernsey) Law 2017 has made document duty payable on all "chargeable transactions". A "chargeable transaction" is defined as the acquisition by any person of an interest in real property, or the creation of a charge against real property by the registration of an hypothéque (a legal charge or "bond"). The document recording a chargeable transaction cannot be registered at the Greffe unless document duty is paid.