The party to the transaction who is responsible for the payment of the duty (usually the purchaser etc) must ensure that the document is correctly stamped. Documents must be lodged for assessment with Territory Revenue Office (TRO).
A dutiable document becomes liable for duty immediately after it has been executed (signed). Within sixty (60) days after execution, the document must be lodged for assessment and the duty paid. Extensions apply to eligible conditional agreements.
For undocumented acquisitions of dutiable property or a relevant acquisition in a land-holding corporation or unit trust scheme, a statement must be completed, lodged with TRO and the duty paid within sixty (60) days after the date of acquisition.
For further information on lodgement and payment requirements and extensions of time for eligible conditional contracts, refer to Commissioner's Guideline CG-SD-001 Document lodgement and payment periods and Commissioner's Guideline CG-SD-002 Eligible conditional agreements - extension of time to lodge instrument and pay duty.
Failure to pay duty within the requisite period is a tax default which will give rise to a liability for interest and penalty tax. The circumstances of the tax default will determine the level of interest and/or penalty tax. For further details of TRO’s interest and penalty policy and rates, click here.
To avoid late payment penalties, earlier lodgement of the document or statement with the supporting information to enable an assessment of duty to be made, is important. The Stamp Duty Lodgement Guide details the information requirements for most classes of documents and statements.
A taxpayer may object to an assessment of stamp duty within sixty (60) days from the date of the notice of assessment. Where there is reasonable excuse, the Commissioner of Territory Revenue may extend the period for lodging an objection. The objection must be in writing and set out in full detail the grounds of the objection.
Lodging an objection does not suspend or defer the payment of stamp duty, by the due date, stated in the assessment notice.
If a taxpayer is dissatisfied with the result of the objection, an appeal can be lodged with the Taxation and Royalty Appeals Tribunal or Supreme Court within sixty (60) days of issue of the decision. A decision of the Taxation and Royalty Appeals Tribunal may be appealed to the Supreme Court.
For further details on the procedures for lodging objections and appeals, click here.
The Stamp Duty Act provides for refunds in certain circumstances. Each application must be accompanied by the stamped documents. Application forms are available from the website or upon request. Generally, refunds are limited to a period of five (5) years from the date of the initial assessment.
There are two services available for the stamping of documents:
| - | Lodgement with Territory Revenue Office (TRO). TRO have undertaken in its Taxpayer’s Charter, to issue stamp duty assessments for 90 per cent of documents within five (5) business days. If you require an urgent assessment, please let us know. | |
| - | The Department of Corporate Information
Services (DCIS) also acts as an agent for TRO in Alice Springs. DCIS
will however, stamp routine conveyances only. Routine conveyances
are those between parties who are at ‘arms length’, which
do not involve time consuming or complex assessments, do not require
the exercise of discretion or judgement or do not necessitate a valuation.
DCIS’s contact details are: 1st floor, Alice Plaza Opening hours: 8.00 am to 4.21 pm Telephone: +61 8 8951 6500 |
All documents should be lodged with a Stamp Duty Lodgement Form.
For further information on Conveyance By Return (CBR), click here.