(1) An Australian corporation is entitled to a refund of an amount of
surcharge land tax paid by the corporation in respect of residential land
owned by the corporation at midnight on 31 December in a year (the
"taxing date" ) if the Chief Commissioner is satisfied that--
(a) a new home
has been constructed on the land by the corporation or a
related body corporate (before or after the taxing date) and sold by the
corporation after the taxing date to a person who is not an associated person
of the corporation without the home having been used or occupied for any
purpose (other than as a display home) before the completion of that sale, or
(b) the land has been subdivided by the corporation (before or after the
taxing date) for the purpose of its use for new home construction and sold by
the corporation after the taxing date and after the issue of a subdivision
certificate (as referred to in the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act
1979 , section 6.4) for the subdivision, or
(c) the land has been used by the
corporation or a related body corporate, before or after the taxing date,
wholly or predominantly for commercial or industrial purposes.
(2) The amount
of the refund to which an Australian corporation is entitled under this
section is the amount that is determined in accordance with an order made by
the Treasurer for the purposes of this section and published in the Gazette.
The amount of the refund may be the full amount of surcharge land tax paid or
a lesser amount (as determined in accordance with the order).
(3) The Chief
Commissioner may approve a foreign person as an exempt person for particular
land if the Chief Commissioner is of the opinion that the person is likely to
become entitled under this section to a refund of the full amount of
surcharge land tax payable by the person in respect of the land for a land tax
year.
(4) A foreign person is exempt from liability to pay surcharge land tax
in respect of land for a land tax year if the person is approved as an exempt
person for the land for that land tax year.
(5) The approval of a
foreign person as an exempt person under this section is subject to the
following provisions--
(a) an approval may be given for one or more land tax
years and can be given for a land tax year before or after the end of the land
tax year,
(b) an approval may be given subject to conditions and the approval
operates subject to any such conditions,
(c) the conditions of an approval
may be varied by the Chief Commissioner at any time by notice to the person,
(d) an approval can be revoked by the Chief Commissioner at any time by notice
to the person,
(e) the revocation of an approval can be backdated to extend
to a tax year in respect of which the exemption conferred by the approval has
already been applied, in which case surcharge land tax is payable and is to be
assessed or reassessed as if the approval had never applied in respect of that
tax year.
(6) Surcharge land tax may be refunded under this section only if
an application for the refund is made--
(b) an application for the refund was not made on or
before 21 June 2021.
(6A) For the purposes of the Taxation Administration
Act 1996 , section 9(3)(c), a reassessment under this section is authorised to
be made more than 5 years after the initial assessment.
(7) In this section--
"associated person" has the same meaning as in the Duties Act 1997.
"Australian corporation" means a corporation that is incorporated or taken to
be incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth.
"entitling event" means--
(a) for a refund under subsection (1)(a)--the
completion of the sale of the new home, or
(b) for a refund under subsection
(1)(b)--the issue of the subdivision certificate, or
(c) for a refund under
subsection (1)(c)--the start of the use of the land wholly or predominantly
for commercial or industrial purposes.
"new home" has the same meaning as in the First Home Owner Grant (New Homes)
Act 2000 .
"related body corporate" has the same meaning as in the Corporations Act 2001
of the Commonwealth.
"transfer" includes an assignment and an exchange.