Duties Amendment (First Home Owners Concession) Act 2004 (TAS)

Duties Amendment (First Home Owners Concession) Act 2004

An Act to amend the Duties Act 2001

[Royal Assent 14 July 2004]

Be it enacted by His Excellency the Governor of Tasmania, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and House of Assembly, in Parliament assembled, as follows:

1Short titleThis Act may be cited as the Duties Amendment (First Home Owners Concession) Act 2004 . 2CommencementThis Act is taken to have commenced on 20 May 2004. 3Principal ActIn this Act, the Duties Act 2001 is referred to as the Principal Act. 4Section 30 insertedAfter section 29 of the Principal Act , the following section is inserted in Part 3: 30First home owners – concessional rate (1)  If – (a) a person is entitled to a grant under section 7 of the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 in relation to an eligible transaction referred to in section 13(1)(a) of that Act; and (b) the dutiable value of the property to which the grant relates does not exceed $350 000 – the rate of duty chargeable on the dutiable transaction to which the grant under section 7 of that Act relates is as follows:

The dutiable value of the dutiable property subject to the dutiable transaction	Rate of duty
Not more than $152 100	$0
More than $152 100 but not more than $225 000	$3.50 for every $100, or part, by which the dutiable value exceeds $152 100 minus $1.50
More than $225 000 but not more than $350 000	$2 550 plus $4 for every $100, or part, by which the dutiable value exceeds $225 000

(2)  Subsection (1) applies to dutiable transactions entered into on or after 20 May 2004 and on or before 30 June 2005. (3)  If the Commissioner becomes aware that a dutiable transaction, in respect of which duty was charged at a rate specified in subsection (1) , did not meet the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b) of that subsection, the Commissioner may reassess the duty that would otherwise be payable in respect of that transaction, having regard to the amount of duty that may already have been paid. (4)  If, under subsection (3) , the Commissioner reassesses the duty payable, the Commissioner may, in the notice in which the duty is reassessed – (a) impose a penalty of up to 100% of the amount representing the difference between the amount of duty originally assessed and the amount of duty as reassessed; or (b) impose interest, at the interest rate specified in section 35(1) of the Taxation Administration Act 1997 , on the amount representing the difference between the amount of duty originally assessed and the amount of duty as reassessed, on a daily basis from the date the duty would have been payable without a tax default occurring, if the rate under subsection (1) had not applied, until the date the duty is paid; or (c) both impose a penalty referred to in paragraph (a) and impose interest referred to in paragraph (b) . (5)  The rates of duty in subsection (1) do not apply if the Commissioner is of the opinion that the agreement for sale or transfer in relation to a dutiable transaction was entered into as part of a scheme. (6)  The Commissioner, unless satisfied to the contrary, is to presume the existence of a scheme referred to in subsection (5) if the parties to an agreement for sale or transfer entered into before 20 May 2004 enter into another agreement for sale or transfer with respect to the same or substantially the same property on or after 20 May 2004. (7)  If, as a result of the Commissioner’s actions under subsection (3) , a person becomes liable to pay duty or a further amount of duty, that liability is a charge on the dutiable property to which the dutiable transaction referred to in subsection (1) relates. (8)  In this section – tax default has the same meaning as in the Taxation Administration Act 1997 .

[Second reading presentation speech made in:

House of Assembly on 10 JUNE 2004

Legislative Council on 17 JUNE 2004]