| Revenue Ruling Public Ruling
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| This ruling replaces PUB-DT-2003-5. Section 6(1)(b) of the Duties Act 2001 (the Act) imposes duty on certain transactions including an agreement for the sale or transfer of dutiable property, whether conditional or not. Section 10 of the Act provides that a liability for duty arises when a transfer of dutiable property occurs. For the purposes of charging duty, section 7 of the Act deems an agreement for sale or transfer to be a transfer of dutiable property at the date the agreement is entered into. Section 15 of the Act provides that duty must be paid within 3 months after the liability to pay the duty arises. Section 138 of the Act imposes duty on mortgages. Section 142 provides that a liability for duty arises when a mortgage is first executed and Section 143 provides that duty must be paid within 3 months after the liability to pay the duty arises. Accordingly, these Sections will require a taxpayer who has entered into an agreement for sale (whether that agreement is conditional or not) to pay duty within 3 months of the date of execution of the said agreement and the execution of any mortgage in relation to the same property. In some cases, the taxpayer will be applying for a duty loan under Section 252 of the Act. Applications for duty loans may cause delays in lodging documents for assessment of duty. Section 59(1) of the Taxation Administration Act 1997 (the TAA) allows the Commissioner of State Revenue to extend the time for payment of tax by a taxpayer. Ruling Where the purchaser in an agreement for sale of land in Tasmania is approved for a duty loan under Section 252 of the Act the time for payment of the duty will be 4 months from the date upon which the agreement for sale was executed and 4 months from the date upon which the mortgage was executed. Assessment of documents When such an agreement for sale or mortgage is lodged with the Commissioner of State Revenue for assessment, the lodging party should note on the lodgement form that a duty loan application has been made. Where such an agreement for sale or mortgage is to be stamped by way of self-assessment utilising Tasmanian Revenue Online ("TRO"), a copy of the agreement for sale and/or mortgage executed by the purchasers must be retained together with any other evidence requirements set out in the TRO Duty Instruments Manual and/or online help. Any other request to extend the time for payment of duty (or a request to pay duty by instalments) on an agreement for the sale or transfer of land in Tasmania will be considered on a case by case basis pursuant to Section 59 of the TAA. Enquiries in relation to this Revenue Ruling should be directed to the Revenue Advice and Audit Section on telephone 03 6233 6670 or e-mail at audithelp@treasury.tas.gov.au. Copies of this ruling may be obtained from our Web site at www.sro.tas.gov.au and follow the "Revenue Rulings" link. All rulings must be read subject to Revenue Ruling PUB-GEN-2001-1. Peter Coe COMMISSIONER OF STATE REVENUE |
