Business property: duty requirements

An assessment of duty will not be issued until all required information is provided.

If the business has been carried on in Western Australia, or provided goods or services to customers in Western Australia, in the year preceding the transaction, provide:

1. The transaction record (such as an agreement to transfer).
2. The total consideration for the transaction including cash, shares, liabilities taken over, etc. This includes any contingent amount payable (for example, if an event occurs).
3. Allocation of the consideration to the various assets, i.e. goodwill, plant and equipment, intellectual property, stock-in-trade, etc.
4. If the transaction includes assets outside of Western Australia - the gross amount of the commodities supplied and services provided by the business in the three financial years before the transaction to customers:
   • in Western Australia
   • in each other state and territory in Australia
   • overseas.
5. If there is another transaction that together with this transaction are substantially one arrangement – a copy of the transaction record for the other transaction.
6. Any other information that may assist us to assess the duty.

In addition, if the only asset of the transaction is intellectual property or if the parties to the transaction are:

• related by blood, marriage, co-ownership or prior business relationship
• related companies as defined in the Corporations Act 2001
• partners in a partnership
• participants in the same joint venture
• trustees of trusts which have common beneficiaries
• joint owners of property or
• not at arms’ length by any other circumstances

also provide: 

1. complete financial statements of the business for the three years before the transaction.
2. evidence showing how the parties calculated the values of the assets. (c) copies of any independent valuations of the assets.
3. if the transaction involves land, complete either Form FDA27 ‘Duties Valuation – City, Town and Suburban Property’ or Form FDA28 ‘Duties Valuation – Country Land’. These forms are not required if lodging electronically.
   You don’t need to provide a valuation form if you provide a valuation by a qualified valuer described in Commissioner’s Practice TAA 30 ‘Valuation of Land for Duties Purposes’.
   You will also need to complete a Form FDA41 ‘Foreign Transfer Duty Declaration’.
4. if the assets include a business licence under the Liquor Licensing Act 1988 – bar trading accounts for the three financial years before the transaction.