One of a number of beneficial measures announced in the Budget for 2014 was the waiving of stamp duty on the purchase of first properties, the value of which does not exceed €150,000, being bought by citizens of Malta and provided that the final contract of sale is signed in 2014.

It is evident that the Government intended this measure to help and encourage those members of the population who are buying their first home.

It seems, however, that, by limiting the measure to those people who signed a promise of sale agreement after July 1, 2013, a degree of discrimination has been inadvertently introduced. Stamp duty is tied to the final contract and not to the promise of sale agreement.

Many young couples find they need to make promise of sale agreements much longer than six months because the property they are buying is still on plan or in its early stages.

Such couples would not be able to benefit from the good Budget measure because they would have signed a promise of sale agreement prior July 1 but with the final contract scheduled for 2014.

On the other hand, those buyers who signed a short-term promise of sale agreement after July 1 might still be able to get their stamp duty waived by extending their promise of sale agreement into 2014.

I’m sure it was not the government’s intention to bring about such an anomaly.

There may still be time for the measure to be rendered fairer to these first-home buyers.