Santander Cards UK and Gov Stamp Duty

AbigailB

My mom had a Debenham store card (credit card) issued by Santander cards uk, Santander has since pulled out of Ireland, and so the card is useless. She had paid this card off completely but then got stuck for the €30 Government Stamp Duty in 2012. She paid in full and wrote to the company to request that the account be closed. She did not receive any confirmation but she stopped receiving statements after the letter was sent and so assumed that it had been closed.

Then last week she received a credit card statement from Santander Cards (The first one since the same date last year) that says that she owes them €30 Government Stamp Duty again.

This time she is refusing to pay this charge but does not know what to do because this will give her a bad credit rating. When she try's to contact Santander they just tell her that it is the government making this charge and not them. The only help they gave her was to tell her to write a complaint to an address in the UK but this really just seems to be a way to try and shut her up.

The whole process just seems to be going on forever. The payment is due in 2 days and then interest will be added and she really just doesn't know what to do or who to go to because Santander have been so clueless and negligent during this whole thing.

What should she do? Has anyone else had a similar problem with Santander?
Any help would be great!

Thanks:)

slimjimmc

Stamp duty is levied at the end of the tax year so if she cancelled the card after 1st April 2012 she would still be liable for stamp duty for the tax year 2nd Apr 2012-1st Apr 2013.

http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/duties_and_vat/stamp_duty_on_financial_cards.html