(1) Part 11 of the Principal Act is amended by inserting the following chapter after Chapter 6:

"Chapter 7 Time limit for repayment of stamp duty, interest on repayment and time limits for enquiries and assessments

159A. Time limits for claiming a repayment of stamp duty.

(1) Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act containing a shorter time limit for the making of a claim for repayment, no stamp duty shall be repaid to a person in respect of a valid claim (within the meaning of section 159B), unless that valid claim is made within the period of 4 years from, as the case may be, the date the instrument was stamped by the Commissioners, the date the statement of liability was delivered to the Commissioners or the date the operator-instruction referred to in section 69 was made.

(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to a repayment claim in respect of stamp duty arising on or before the date of the passing of the Finance Act 2003, where a valid claim is made on or before 31 December 2004.

159B. Interest on repayments of stamp duty.

(1) In this section -

'relevant date', in relation to a repayment of stamp duty, means:

(a) the date which is 183 days after the date on which a valid claim in respect of the repayment is made to the Commissioners, or