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 and Equality 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 may be paid in the provincial court offices. In the Dublin Metropolitan District stamping facilities are available in the Dublin Courts Stamping Office.

The current court fees are set out in the District Court fees order, the Circuit Court fees order and the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court fees order.

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 posta l money order should be made payable to the Chief Clerk of the relevant District Court office. Payments to the Wicklow Circuit Court office should be madeto the County Registrar.

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

enclose the relevant document and fee,
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,
supply a contact telephone number with your application,
the payment must be by bank draft, postal money order or cheque.

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 Wicklow Circuit Court office should be madeto the County Registrar.

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

- enclose the relevant document and fee,
- 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,
- supply a contact telephone number with your application,
- the payment must be by bank draft, postal money order or cheque.

With effect from 1st January 2014, fees are only refunded in the following circumstances;

the document on which the fee is paid does not require a fee under the Fees Order
the fee paid was in excess of what was required to be paid under the Fees Order
a duplicate document is stamped in relation to the same case
there is an error on the face of a document and an amended document has been lodged with the relevant court office
the fee has already been paid by another party in relation to the same case

A fee is not refundable in the event that:

following payment of the court fee, a decision has been made not to proceed with the application
an area exemption has been granted prior to a licensing application being made for a Special Exemption within the same area and during the same period.

Further Information:

No refund will be granted if the fee was stamped over 6 years prior to refund application.
An unused stamp cannot be transferred for use on another future application.

To claim a refund:

In order to claim a refund, customers should complete the Application for Refund of Court Fees which can also be obtained from any court office or the Finance Section, Resource Management Directorate, Courts Service, Phoenix House, 15/24 Phoenix Street North, Smithfield, Dublin 7. Tel. (01) 888 6022.

This form should be completed and submitted to the above address together with the original stamped document on which the refund is sought. Failure to attach the original stamped document will delay the processing of your application.

This policy applies to all documents which are franked with a date after 1st January, 2014. All documents which are franked with a date prior to 1st January, 2014 will be dealt with under the policy existing prior to that date.

To claim a refund of online payment of Court Fee please use:

CSOL Online payment - Application for Refund of Court Fees

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.