Queensland Trustees Ltd v Commissioner of Stamp Duties

Queensland Trustees Ltd, as trustee of a settlement made by one A.E. Harding, appealed to the Supreme Court of Queensland against a determination by the Commissioner of Stamp Duties. The dispute concerned the liability of certain payments of income, made after the settlor's death, to succession duty under the *Succession Duty Act 1906* (Qld). The settlement established a trust during the settlor's lifetime, empowering the trustees to apply income at their discretion among a specified group of beneficiaries.

The central legal issue before the Court was whether the payments of income made by the trustees after the settlor's death constituted a "succession" within the meaning of the *Succession Duty Act 1906* (Qld), thereby attracting succession duty. Specifically, the Court had to determine if the beneficiaries' entitlement to receive income from the trust fund after the settlor's death, even if subject to the trustees' discretion, amounted to a succession that was dutiable.

The Court reasoned that the *Succession Duty Act 1906* (Qld) imposed duty on successions, which were defined to include property of which any person should become entitled to the beneficial interest in possession by any disposition of such property. In this instance, the beneficiaries had a beneficial interest in possession of the income from the trust fund upon the death of the settlor, even though the precise distribution of that income remained at the trustees' discretion. The Court held that the disposition of the property by the settlor created a succession upon his death, and the payments of income thereafter were dutiable. The appeal was dismissed.