STAMP DUTIES ACT 1923 - SECT 20

STAMP DUTIES ACT 1923 - SECT 20

20—Time for payment of duty and stamping

        (1)         Subject to any express provision to the contrary, if an instrument is chargeable with duty, the duty must be paid and the instrument stamped—

            (a)         in the case of an instrument executed in South Australia—within two months after its execution; or

            (b)         in the case of an instrument executed outside South Australia—within two months after its receipt in South Australia or within six months after its execution, whichever period first expires.

        (2)         If duty or further duty becomes chargeable on an instrument in consequence of an event occurring after its execution, the duty must be paid and the instrument stamped within two months after that event.

        (3)         The payment in relation to an instrument of any penalty tax or interest under Part 5 of the Taxation Administration Act 1996 must be denoted on the instrument by a particular stamp.

        (4)         If an instrument that is chargeable with stamp duty is not produced to the Commissioner for stamping within the period prescribed by this section, any person who executed the instrument, or on whose behalf it was executed, is guilty of an offence.

Maximum penalty: $10 000.

        (5)         Subsection (4) does not apply in relation to an instrument that has been duly stamped in some other manner authorised by this Act within the relevant period.

        (6)         It is a defence to a charge against subsection (4) to prove that the defendant delivered the instrument or had it delivered into the possession of some other party, or an agent for some other party, to the instrument in the reasonable expectation that the other party would have it stamped.

        (7)         The commission of an offence against subsection (4) does not affect the validity of the instrument in relation to which the offence was committed.