Who is liable and when to pay?
Abolition of lease duty
Duty was abolished on lease instruments first executed on or after 1 January 2008. The abolition of duty on leases does not affect any obligation to pay duty in respect of a lease instrument and a variation of a lease instrument executed before 1 January 2008.
Stamping is not required unless the document falls under one of the following categories:
a) A lease or agreement for lease in respect of which a premium is paid or agreed to be paid (not including any premium paid or payable for a lease of premises in a retirement village within the meaning of section 5 of the Retirement Villages Act 1999)
b) A lease entered into pursuant to an option if an amount is paid or payable for the grant of the option
c) A transfer or assignment of lease
d) A surrender of lease
Such transactions remain subject to transfer duty.
Lease duty will not apply to a variation of lease made on or after 1 January 2008 even if the variation to the lease is to increase the cost of the lease that was executed before 1 January 2008
If any lease executed before 1 January 2008 has any unascertainable cost components for which there is an estimate date on or after 1 January 2008, a final estimate of the cost of the lease will be made on the first such date on or after 1 January 2008. The lease instrument will be chargeable with duty as if that final estimate were the full cost of the lease, and no further estimates of the cost of the lease will be made.
Who is liable and when to pay?
The person liable to pay the duty is the lessee.
Duty must be paid within three months after the lease instrument is first signed or executed.
The lease instrument also becomes liable to duty on the making of a variation to the lease that increases the cost of the lease.
Additional duty resulting from the variation must be paid within three months of the date of signing the variation of lease.
