2022 Amendments
State Revenue and Fines Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Act 2022
State Revenue and Fines Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous) Act 2022 received assent on 19 May 2022.
The object of this Act is to make amendments to the Duties Act 1997, Fines Act 1996, Fines Regulation 2020, First Home Owner Grant (New Homes) Act 2000, Land Tax Act 1956, Liquor Act 2007, State Debt Recovery Act 2018 and the Taxation Administration Act 1996 for the following purposes:
Duties Act 1997
To impose duty on certain transactions that result in a change of beneficial ownership of dutiable property. This includes the creation or extinguishment of dutiable property, a change in equitable interests in dutiable property, and dutiable property becoming or ceasing to be the subject of a trust. There is also a list of excluded transactions. (A Commissioner’s Practice Note will be available soon).
To charge duty on an acknowledgement of trust. The amendments only apply to acknowledgements that meet the requirements set out in s.8AA, and is in response to the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Chief Commissioner of State Revenue v Benidorm Pty Ltd [2020] NSWCA 285. This will generally include the making of a statement that purports to be a declaration of trust , and includes a statement that identified property is already held or is to be held in trust is liable to duty. (Watch out for a revenue ruling )
To exempt defence force personnel from the residence requirement that ordinarily must be complied with to defer payment of duty on an off the plan purchase agreement.
To extend the refund of surcharge purchaser duty that is paid in relation to a transfer of residential land, if after the transfer, the land is used by the transferee wholly or predominately for commercial or industrial purposes. (Revenue ruling G13 is being updated and will be available soon)
To permit reassessment of a liability to pay surcharge purchaser duty more than 5 years after an initial assessment of liability in certain circumstances.
To extend the exemption from duty for transactions made in accordance with an agreement for the division of relationship property on the breakdown of a de facto relationship, bringing it into line with the division of matrimonial property (CPN 006 is being updated and will be available soon).
To exempt ambulance services insurance from duty and to extend the duty exemption for insurance of the hull to the whole vessel. To clarify that livestock insurance does not include pet insurance.
To extend the exemption from duty on primary production land transfers to apply when the transferee is not an individual but is instead an executor of a deceased estate, a trust, a superannuation fund, a private unit trust scheme or a proprietary limited company. (Revenue ruling DUT 050 is being updated and will be available soon).
To enable the Minister or the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue to add to the list of stock exchanges on which a company’s shares or a unit trust scheme’s units, must be quoted to be considered “listed”.
Fines Act 1996
To extend the fine enforcement functions of Transport for NSW under the Fines Act 1996 by requiring Transport for NSW to suspend or cancel a fine defaulter’s visitor vehicle privileges, or marine safety licence, if directed to do so by the Commissioner of Fines Administration.
To remove from the Chief Commissioner of Fines Administration the power to seek imprisonment of a fine defaulter who fails to comply with a community service order.
To enable a social worker, who has the qualifications specified by work and development guidelines made by the Minister administering the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999, to supervise the activities undertaken by a fine defaulter under a work and development order to satisfy a fine.
To provide the Commissioner of Fines Administration access to information for the purpose of enabling the Commissioner to exercise any of the Commissioner’s functions under the Fines Act 1996, rather than only to exercise specified functions. The amendment also requires police and other government agencies to provide the Commissioner of Fines Administration, on request, available information about a fine defaulter’s email address and phone number and authorises a credit reporting body to disclose to the Commissioner of Fines Administration the contact details of the current or last known employer of a fine defaulter. The amendment also enables the Commissioner of Fines Administration to obtain from an authorised deposit-taking institution the balance of a fine defaulter’s bank account for the purpose of deciding whether to make a garnishee order against the fine defaulter.
To enable employees of, and other persons engaged or authorised by, Revenue NSW to issue penalty notices for alleged offences under the Fines Act 1996.
Fines Regulation 2020
The amendment enables a penalty notice to be issued to a person who does not supply a statutory declaration verifying the person responsible for a vehicle or vessel offence.
First Home Owner Grant (New Homes) Act 2000
To clarify that the total value of a comprehensive home building contract is, for the purpose of deciding eligibility for a first home owner grant, to be determined at the date the contract is completed rather than the date when the contract is made. The amendment extends a condition on the payment of a first home owner grant, made in anticipation of compliance with the eligibility cap, from the building of a home by an owner builder to a contract for the purchase of a home, and a comprehensive home building contract.
Land Tax Act 1956
To clarify that for a person to be eligible for an exemption from surcharge land tax for land on the basis that the land is the person’s principal place of residence, the person must use and occupy the land for a continuous period of 200 days in a land tax year. If person is physically absent from Australia it does not count towards the 200 day period. The amendment also permits the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue to waive this requirement in exceptional circumstances.
To permit surcharge land tax paid in relation to land to be refunded if the land is used by the taxpayer wholly or predominantly for commercial or industrial purposes.
To permit a reassessment of liability to pay surcharge land tax more than 5 years after an initial assessment of liability.
Liquor Act 2007
To extend the prescribed period until 11 December 2023 to allow local councils to encourage the use of outdoor space for dining and performance during the prescribed period, to assist with social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
State Debt Recovery Act 2018
To clarify that a court judgment in relation to a fee, charge or other amount is not required for it to be considered payable for the purposes of the State Debt Recovery Act 2018.
To ensure that a debt recovery agreement between the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue and a public authority may provide for the issue of invoices by the Chief Commissioner on behalf of the public authority.
To provide that the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue may access certain information for the purpose of enabling the Chief Commissioner to exercise any of the Chief Commissioner’s functions under the State Debt Recovery Act 2018, rather than only to exercise specified functions. To authorise a credit reporting body to disclose to the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue the contact details of the current or last known employer of a debtor.
To enable the electronic service of documents under the State Debt Recovery Act 2018 to be effected not only by email but also in other ways.
Taxation Administration Act 1997
To double the rate of penalty tax payable for a tax default by a significant global entity as defined by the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 of the Commonwealth from 25 percent to 50 percent. The Chief Commissioner is also to publish guidelines on when no penalty tax is payable for a tax default and determine that no penalty tax is payable for a tax default after considering the guidelines (A Commissioner’s Practice Note will be available soon).
To permit the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue to disclose tax information for the purposes of investigation and law enforcement, and tax clearance checks by certain government and other public agencies of New South Wales.
To deter the making of, entry into or carrying out of tax avoidance schemes.
The amendment extends the duty avoidance provisions’ (with appropriate amendment) application to schemes for the avoidance of all kinds of tax liability rather than only liability to pay duty.
To prohibit the promotion of tax avoidance schemes and also provides for the following
(a) ordering payment of civil penalties for breaches of the prohibition,
(b) making injunctions in relation to proposed breaches of the prohibition,
(c) voluntary undertakings in connection with tax avoidance schemes.
These provisions are broadly similar to equivalent provisions in the Taxation Administration Act 1953 of the Commonwealth.
To enable the electronic service of documents under the Taxation Administration Act 1996 to be effected not only by email but also in other ways.
Related information
Legislation Amendment Act 2022 guide