Summary of change
From 8 October 2024 (Effective Date), an agreement or contract for sale of land with a dutiable value of $20 million or more must be submitted directly to Revenue NSW via the eDuties portal for assessment. This change applies to both residential and non-residential property transactions lodged after 8 October 2024.
Revenue NSW no longer permits these transactions to be self-assessed or assessed by an authorised agent via the Electronic Duties Return (EDR).
Transition period
From 19 September 2024 until the Effective Date, agreements or contracts for sale of land with a dutiable value of $20 million or more may still be lodged through EDR or via the eDuties portal for assessment.
Impact on purchasers
This change will extend the duty assessment and potentially also settlement timeframes.
If you are a purchaser of land valued at $20 million or more, you should:
- submit your dutiable instruments for assessment as soon as contracts or agreements are exchanged. This is to ensure that duties can be assessed in time for settlement. Based on our experience, Revenue NSW is very reluctant to accept requests for urgent assessments. Revenue NSW also requires a lengthy time to complete the assessments.
- submit all evidentiary documents to Revenue NSW on initial lodgement for assessment. This is to reduce the chances of the assessment application being requisitioned. Evidentiary documents include, for example, valuation reports, trust deeds and variations deeds and shareholder registers.
- only agree on a settlement date that will allow sufficient time for duty to be assessed. A short settlement period must be rejected unless it is conditional on completion of duty assessment.
Conclusion
Purchasers must be made aware of the above change and take prompt action to avoid being charged with interests under the contracts and the Duties Act.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
