Page 675 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 31 March 2021

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Also assisting with housing outcomes for the community, the bill provides conveyance duty concessions to pensioners who have a disability or to a special disability trust purchasing residential shares in not-for-profit supportive housing properties. This will provide that pensioners with a disability are exempt from duty through indirect acquisitions of interests in supportive housing in the same way that they would be exempt from duty if they acquire a property directly.

More generally, this bill continues the ACT government’s efforts to maintain and improve the operation of our territory’s tax laws as part of a series of revenue legislation amendment bills. This bill introduces amendments to protect and preserve the integrity of the revenue collection system in the territory and addresses a range of minor technical and administration matters related to tax law.

The bill allows the Commissioner for ACT Revenue to apply penalty tax provisions under the Taxation Administration Act to overdue and unpaid rates on land owned by corporations and trusts, to better support the integrity of tax administration. The bill also includes technical amendments to ensure that acquisitions of interests in short and long-term commercial leases and subleases are excluded from the application of duty, consistent with longstanding policy intent.

The bill also clarifies when duty must be paid on the acquisition of an option over dutiable property. The amendments will exclude corporations and trustees from exemptions on land tax involving an owner’s principal place of residence, consistent with the longstanding intent to apply land tax to holdings of land by corporations and trusts.

To support compliance, the bill requires the payment of any deferred lease variation charges prior to registering a unit plan. The bill also makes other LVC changes, including changing the annual requirement to provide valuation advice to the Treasurer for codified LVC determinations to a three-year requirement. Proposed amendments make clear that a notice of assessment reflects the LVC tax liability of the lessee, and that an obligation to pay that liability arises upon the execution of the variation of a Crown lease.

To support payroll tax harmonisation, the bill extends the payroll tax annual reconciliation period from 21 days to 28 days, matching New South Wales requirements. The reporting requirements for the commissioner to provide information on airport rates will be aligned with processes for general rates under the bill.

The bill provides a power for the minister to determine an alternative time period for property owners to lodge objections for land valuations as part of actions being developed to improve the transparency of the valuation processes for property owners.

The bill updates the permitted disclosures arrangements under the secrecy provisions of the Taxation Administration Act to include prescribed targeted agencies. The updated arrangements will uphold the integrity of the tax system and prescribed agency functions.


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