STAMP DUTIES ACT 1923 - SECT 60A

STAMP DUTIES ACT 1923 - SECT 60A

60A—Value of property conveyed or transferred

        (1)         Subject to subsection (2), a reference in this Act (other than in Part 4) to the value of property conveyed or transferred is a reference to the market value of the property as at the date of the conveyance, assuming that the property had, at that date, been free from any encumbrances.

        (2)         In the case of a conveyance on sale, the Commissioner may treat the consideration for the sale as being the value of the property conveyed or transferred unless it appears to the Commissioner that the consideration may be less than the value of the property as referred to in subsection (1).

        (3)         Where no evidence of the value of property conveyed or transferred, or comprising or forming part of the consideration for a conveyance, is furnished to the Commissioner, or the evidence so furnished is, in his opinion, unsatisfactory, the Commissioner may cause a valuation of the property to be made by some person appointed by him and may assess the duty payable by reference to that valuation.

        (4)         The Commissioner may, having regard to the merits of the case, charge the whole or a part of the expenses of, or incidental to, the making of a valuation pursuant to subsection (3) to the person liable to pay the duty and may recover the amount so charged from him as a debt due to the Crown.

        (4a)         Where an interest, agreement or arrangement (granted or made on or after 7 January 1997) in respect of property has the effect of reducing the value of the property, the Commissioner may, for the purposes of assessing the duty payable on a conveyance of the property, disregard the existence of the interest, agreement or arrangement unless a person liable to pay the duty satisfies the Commissioner that the interest, agreement or arrangement—

            (a)         was granted or made for a purpose other than reducing the value of the property; and

            (b)         was not granted or made in favour of the transferee or a person related to the transferee.

        (4b)         Where an estate or interest conveyed or transferred merges with an estate or interest already held by the transferee (the latter having been acquired by the transferee on or after 7 January 1997), the Commissioner may, for the purposes of assessing the duty payable on the conveyance, treat the value of the estate or interest conveyed or transferred as being—

            (a)         where the instrument creating the estate or interest already held was charged with ad valorem duty as a conveyance—the value of the estate or interest produced by the merger less the value of the estate or interest already held; or

            (b)         in any other case—the value of the estate or interest produced by the merger.

        (5)         In subsection (1)—

"encumbrance" does not include a prescribed encumbrance or an encumbrance of a prescribed kind.

        (6)         For the purposes of subsection (4a) (but subject to subsection (7))—

            (a)         natural persons are related persons if—

                  (i)         they are members of a partnership within the meaning of the Partnership Act 1891 ; or

                  (ii)         one is the spouse or domestic partner of the other or the relationship between them is that of parent and child; and

            (b)         companies are related persons if they are related bodies corporate within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth; and

            (c)         trustees are related persons if any person is a beneficiary common to the trusts of which they are trustees; and

            (d)         a natural person and a company are related persons if the natural person is a majority shareholder, director or secretary in or of the company or in or of another company that is a related body corporate of the company within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth; and

            (e)         a natural person and a trustee are related persons if the natural person is a beneficiary of the trust of which the trustee is a trustee; and

            (f)         a company and a trustee are related persons if—

                  (i)         the company, or a majority shareholder, director or secretary in or of the company, is a beneficiary of the trust of which the trustee is a trustee; or

                  (ii)         a related body corporate of the company (within the meaning of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth) is a beneficiary of the trust of which the trustee is a trustee.

        (7)         For the purposes of subsection (4a), persons are not related persons if the Commissioner is satisfied that the persons were not acting together to achieve a common purpose.

        (8)         In subsection (6)—

"majority shareholder", in relation to a company, means a person who would have a substantial shareholding in the company as defined in section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth if the reference to 5% in paragraph (a) of the definition of "substantial holding in that section were replaced by a reference at 50%.

        (9)         In addition to the preceding subsections, when determining the value of property—

            (a)         it is to be assumed that a hypothetical purchaser would, when negotiating the price for the property, have knowledge of all existing information relating to the property; and

            (b)         no account is to be taken of any amount that a hypothetical purchaser would have to expend to reproduce, or otherwise acquire a permanent right of access to and use of, existing information relating to the property.