The following changes have been made to the Taxation Administration Act 1996 No 97 (TAA) which impact the administration of the Duties Act 1997.

Amendments to the Duties Act 1997 and the Taxation Administration Act 1996 came into effect from 4 September 2023.

Reassessment

Section 9(3)(a)

Replaces “the initial assessment” with “an assessment”. This means that the 5 year limit of reassessment of a person’s tax liability does not apply if the reassessment is to give effect to a decision about an objection or review about any assessment, not only the initial assessment of the person’s tax liability.

Section 9(3)(b)

Deletes ‘than the Chief Commissioner would otherwise have assessed it.’ This clarifies that if all relevant facts and circumstances were not disclosed to the Chief Commissioner at the time of an assessment, a reassessment can be made outside the 5 year limit without the Chief Commissioner having to assess the particular facts and circumstances.

Changes to penalties

Sections 10(1), 41(1), 48(1), 49(2), 51, 52, 53(1), 57 and 72(8)

The amendment to these sections increases the penalty units from 100 to 250.

Valuation of property

Section 17A(1) and (2)

This section effectively replaces section 305 of the Duties 1997 and enables the Chief Commissioner to require a taxpayer to provide, or to obtain at the Chief Commissioner’s own initiative or rely on, a valuation of property for the purposes of assessing the tax liability of the taxpayer. The Chief Commissioner may recover the costs of a valuation from the taxpayer in certain circumstances.

This topic is addressed further in Chapter 11. Valuation of property.

Offset refund against other liability

Section 19(1)(d)

The addition of this subsection enables a tax refund owed to a person to be offset against a fine owed by the person under the Fines Act 1996.

Permitted Disclosures – to particular persons

Section 82(k)(xia) and (xii)

Amendments to section 82(k) enables a tax officer under the TAA to disclose information obtained under or in relation to the administration of a taxation law to the Chief Executive Officer of Service NSW and to the Secretary of the Treasury.

Refer to section 3 of the TAA for the definition of a tax officer.

Objections lodged out of time

Section 90(1)

In accordance with section 89 of the TAA, an objection must be lodged with the Chief Commissioner not later than 60 days after the date of service of the notice of the assessment or the date of the decision.

With the amendment to section 90(1), the Chief Commissioner may permit an objection to an assessment or other decision to be lodged after the current 60-day period for up to 5 years after the assessment or decision.

Means and time of payment

Section 107

Section 107(1) –(1)B has been replaced to give the Chief Commissioner a general power to determine how tax is paid to the Chief Commissioner, rather than specifying the methods of payment allowed.