On 26 February 2020, the Minister for Finance announced amendments to the Duties Act 2008 to maintain the transfer duty treatment of strata titles subdivisions.
The amendments will address a decision by the State Administrative Tribunal in February 2019 which created duty outcomes that are inconsistent with the Commissioner’s longstanding assessment practices.
As a result of the decision
- full duty could apply in some cases to the termination, creation or re-subdivision of a strata titles scheme even if the land ownership does not change.
- a transaction effected by a disposition statement is not a transfer of land. This means that, in some circumstances, an owner can acquire land from another without duty applying.
- once the strata titles reforms commence, duty will not apply to strata subdivisions when land ownership changes.
A combination of amendments to the Duties Act and Duties Regulations 2008 will address the outcomes of the decision, depending on whether a transaction occurs before or after the strata reforms commence.
- Once the strata reforms commence, there will be no duty on the creation, re-subdivision or termination of a strata titles scheme.
- Amendments to the duties regulations will create the correct duty outcomes for subdivisions that occur between the date of the Tribunal decision and the date the strata titles amendments and Duties Act amendments take effect.
- Other amendments to the Duties Act will be backdated to the date the strata titles reforms commence to ensure duty applies to strata subdivisions when land ownership changes or an owner receives new lots valued at more than their entitlement in the parent lot.
The Strata Titles Amendment Act 2019 is proposed to commence on 1 May 2020. More information about the strata changes is available from www.strata.wa.gov.au
