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Stamping of documents
Refund of fees

Court fees:

Court fees must be paid by persons using the courts for many of the operations carried out by each of the court offices.

These fees are fixed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform with the agreement of the Minister for Finance and are published in documents known as Court Fees Orders.

Court fees are paid in the form of stamp duty which is stamped onto the relevant court document. They can be paid in most District Court offices and in the Wicklow Circuit Court office. In the Dublin Metropolitan District stamping facilities are available in the Courts Accounts Office (stamping counter).

The current court fees are set out in the District Court (Fees) Order, the Circuit Court (Fees) Order and the High Court and Supreme Court (Fees) Order.

Policy on stamping of documents.

With effect from 1st January 2010;

1. All documents must be stamped on the front page only. Documents must not be stamped anywhere else. In the event where a document requires stamping on any other page except the front the page or has been stamped previously on any other page, the stamp should be initialled and dated by the accepting courts officer.
2. All documents presented for stamping must include the title of the action e.g. names of the defendant / plaintiff. Blank documents must not be stamped under any circumstances.
3. Stamped lodged documents will not be returned to any practitioner except in those instances provided for under Court Rules.

Any requests from practitioners which are contrary to the above policy will be refused.

Excise duty:

There are instances where, in addition to court fees, excise duty is also payable. Excise duties are taxes imposed in various Finance Acts. Certain excise duties are collected by the Courts Service for and on behalf of the Revenue Commissioners. Where excise duty is payable, the total amount due, including the court fee, is affixed as one single amount onto the document.

Information regarding excise duty can be obtained by contacting the Revenue Commissioners.

Stamp duty is payable by cash, bank draft, postal money order and/or cheque.
Payment by cheque, bank draft or postal money order should be made payable to the Chief Clerk of the relevant District Court office. Payments to the WicklowCircuit Court office should be made to the County Registrar.

Stamp duty can also be paid through the post by following these steps:

1.  enclose the relevant document and fee,

2.  ensure the document and fee are posted in plenty of time to allow for return, especially in cases where there are time limits for lodgement of documents,

3.  supply a contact telephone number with your application,

4.  the payment must be by bank draft, postal money order or cheque.

If you have any difficulties in your dealings, you should contact;

in Dublin: the Dublin Stamp Office manager,

at other locations: the Chief Clerk of the relevant District Court office, or the County Registrar in the case of Wicklow Circuit Court office. 

Policy on refund of fees.

With effect from 1st August 2004, fees are only refunded in the following circumstances;

(a) the court fee has been imposed, collected or overpaid arising from administrative error of the Courts Service,

(b) the document on which the fee is paid does not require a fee under the Fees Orders.

In order to claim a refund, customers should complete the Application for Refund of Court Fee form below which can also be obtained from any court office or the Resource Management Directorate, Courts Service, Phoenix House, 15/24 Phoenix Street North, Smithfield, Dublin 7. Tel. (01) 888 6020.

This form should be completed and submitted to the Resource Management Directorate at the above address together with the document on which the refund is sought.

This policy applies to all documents which are franked with a date after 1st August, 2004. All documents which are franked with a date prior to 1st August, 2004 will be dealt under the policy existing prior to that date.

This policy does not apply to refunds of excise duty which will continue to be dealt with in the normal way in that the customers should have the relevant document certified in the court office in which the document was stamped and this should then be submitted to the Finance Directorate at the above address.

Application for refund of court fee