Transactions that can and can't be settled by eConveyancing

Certain transactions liable to transfer duty are not approved for settlement by electronic conveyancing.
An ELN is an Electronic Lodgment Network.

Registered Revenue Online (Online Duties) clients can use an ELN to:

  • settle certain transactions that have been self-assessed in Online Duties and
  • have the assessed transfer duty paid into their linked trust account at settlement and
  • settle certain transactions assessed by the Commissioner after transfer duty is paid.

Transactions that can be settled using an ELN

You can settle a transaction using an ELN if: 

  • there is an agreement in place (such as a contract for sale or offer and acceptance) and
  • the transfer of land will qualify for no double duty because the details of the transfer are exactly the same as the agreement and
  • the transaction is not listed in the section below.

Partial interest transfers can only settle electronically if the party names on the agreement are structured using the all-off all-on method, even though duty is charged on less than 100% of the total interest in the property transferred. All proprietors currently on the title must be recorded as sellers, and all remaining and incoming proprietors recorded as buyers. The party details must be entered into Revenue Online and the ELN using this same structure.

If transactions may need to be aggregated, they must be lodged for assessment (not self-assessed).  After assessment and payment, the aggregated transactions can be settled using an ELN if there is a separate transfer of land for each agreement and the transfer qualifies for no double duty because the details are the same as the agreement (such as two transfers for two aggregated agreements).

We recommend you carry out early verification with enough time to change to paper settlement if needed.

Transactions that can't be settled using an ELN

If the transaction can't be settled using an ELN, you will need to complete a paper settlement.

The following transfers

A transfer of land that is not preceded by an agreement, such as a contract for sale or deed. 
For example, a transfer of land:

  • where the parties did not have a preceding agreement in place, such as a contract for sale or a deed.
  • that includes an estate in the land as a life interest or remainder interest.

Wills, Grants of Probate, and Letters of Administration are not agreements to transfer dutiable property. A transfer of land under the terms of a Will or the Administration Act 1903 can’t be settled using an ELN unless there is a preceding agreement.

A transfer of land that is charged with duty, even though it is preceded by an agreement or another type of transaction. 
For example, a transfer of land that is preceded by:

  • a family court order that is exempt from duty, and nominal duty is charged on the transfer of land.
  • a financial agreement relating to a relationship breakdown that is exempt from duty, and nominal duty is charged on the transfer of land.
  • a single agreement that lists multiple lots of land, but the sellers are not the proprietors of all the lots, or they hold ownership to the lots in difference share fractions. For example, A and B are the sellers of lots 1 and 2 under a single contract for sale, but A is the owner of lot 1 and A and B are the owners of lot 2 as joint tenants. 
  • an agreement in which a purchaser is added or removed as a transferee on the transfer of land, or the purchasers change their share fractions between the agreement and the transfer, causing there to be additional duty payable because they are not related (subsale transaction).
A transfer of business assets that doesn't include land.

 

The following agreements

An agreement in which the details of the parties, property or consideration don't exactly match the details of the transfer. 
For example:

  • the purchaser on the agreement substitutes their interest to a related transferee on the transfer and it is a Commissioner’s assessment (self-assessed transactions with a substituted transferee can still settle using e-conveyancing).
  • there is an agent acting for the principal as the purchaser but the agency relationship is not disclosed on the agreement, and the principal is the transferee named on the transfer.
An agreement where a purchaser is a foreign person, even if foreign transfer duty is not charged.

An agreement that results in a transfer of land by:

  • property and seizure sale order.
  • sale for rates.
  • mortgagee in possession.
Agreements relating to land located in the Indian Ocean Territories (Christmas Island and Cocos and Keeling Islands).

 

The following document types

Certain other registerable document types, regardless of whether they are preceded by an agreement. 
For example:

  • a grant or surrender of an easement.
  • a grant, surrender or transfer of a profit a prendre.
  • a grant, surrender or transfer of a plantation interest.
  • a disposition on subdivision / re-subdivision.
  • a grant or surrender of a life or remainder interest in land.
  • a declaration of trust.

 

The following party names or capacity descriptions

Any transaction in which: 

  • an interested party name contains over 140 characters in total (and/or over 80 characters for the given name(s) and over 50 characters for the family name).
  • an individual interested party name contains characters other than alphanumeric characters (letters A-Z and numerals 0-9), a single apostrophe and/or a single hyphen.
  • an individual interested party name contains leading, trailing or duplicate spaces (_John Smith, John Smith_, John__Smith) 
  • a party capacity contains over 1,000 characters.

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