Further amendments 2004

extends the vendor duty exemption to the sale of land subject to all kinds of conservation or registered trust agreements;

clarifies that periods of ownership counted for the concession for absences from a former principal place of residence cannot also be counted towards principal place of residence status of a second property owned and occupied by the vendor;

clarifies that home owners who on 1 June 2004 were in the process of selling their former home after acquiring and moving into their new home have six months from 1 June 2004 rather than the date of acquisition of the new home to dispose of their former home without incurring vendor duty. It also provides the Chief Commissioner with the power to extend the six month period in certain cases, such an auction fails;

clarifies that a residence will be eligible for the principal place of residence exemption even if it is not wholly owned by the occupant. The requirement will be that at least 50% of the ownership interest is held by one or more natural persons who reside in the home as their principal place of residence. This means, for example, that where a person helps a relative or friend to buy a home, the subsequent sale of the home will not attract vendor duty provided the person living in the home owns at least 50% of the home.

removes a current restriction that prevents the principal place of residence exemption from applying where any of the vendors is not a natural person;

clarifies the application of vendor duty on the disposal of land-related property when interests in the property were acquired at different times. This means the tax will only apply where the value of each interest individually has increased by at least 12%;

clarifies the "new building" exemption for the disposal of vacant buildings to ensure that it only applies where the building is never occupied or used for its intended purpose prior to sale unless it is sold within twelve months of completion, in which case it may have been occupied or used prior to sale;

clarifies that a building is considered "completed" for the purposes of this exemption when the occupation certificate is issued. Where such a certificate is not required, the Chief Commissioner has discretion to determine the appropriate point in time;

clarifies that the exemption applies only in relation to the first sale of premises "off the plan" and not subsequent sales;

clarifies that the exemption for "improved vacant land" only applies when improvements have been made at the vendor's expense;

clarifies the provisions that exempt from vendor duty transactions involving entities or transactions that are exempt from purchaser transfer duty or subject to concessional purchaser transfer duty. This amendment ensures that vendors need to qualify in their own right for any exemption. They do not qualify merely by virtue of the exempt or concessional status of the purchaser to whom they are selling;

clarifies that the period of the exemption from vendor duty on the sale of a deceased's former principal place of residence commences from the grant of probate or letters of administration. The Act also provides that executors and beneficiaries who, on 1 June 2004, were in the process of disposing of a deceased's former principal place of residence, have twelve months from 1 June 2004 to complete the disposal of the property without incurring vendor duty;

clarifies that the executor or beneficiary's exemption from vendor duty on disposal of a deceased's former principal place of residence subject to a life interest lasts for twelve months following surrender or termination of the interest;

clarifies that a disposal of land-related property by a mortgagee, receiver, liquidator or trustee in bankruptcy pursuant to the bona fide exercise of their powers is not liable for vendor duty;

clarifies that the exemption for the disposal of land-related property as part of the sale of a business only applies where the whole of a business is sold.