Can I avoid stamp duty by buying property & contents separately?

Some properties would genuinely have at least €8k-€10k contents (eg furniture) that may well be included as part of the sale. In those scenarios it would be unfair to force the purchaser to pay SD on the contents as these are wasting assets, and if provision is made for a separate side-agreement for the sale of contents, I don't see this necessarily as tax evasion. I suppose the acid test is whether the existence of the side-agreement is kept hidden or its referenced in the main contract and notified to the Revenue. If the parties concerned are sufficiently confident in the integrity of the side-transaction to publicise it to the Revenue, then this should be a clear indicator that there is no scam, and the Revenue in that case will always have the discretion to investigate the transaction if they want to.

Molly said:

the further €10k can be purchased outside of contracts, as part of a gentlemens agreement, is there anything wrong with that?

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Yes if it is an artificial arrangement purely designed to evade tax. Earlier posts on this topic, including one with the Law Society's line on this matter, explain why.

It's funny how many people (nobody in particular here) moan about "rip-off Ireland" but, at the same time, seem to be happy to contemplate or engage in tax evasion when it suits them.