What it does
The Duties Act 1997 (NSW) is the principal statute governing the imposition, calculation, collection, and administration of a range of State taxes collectively known as “duties”. At its core the Act replaces the former Stamp Duties Act 1920 and modernises the taxation of transactions that change legal or beneficial ownership of property, create security interests, or give rise to insurable risks.
The Act operates through five substantive charging regimes:
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Chapter 2 – Duty on “dutiable transactions” (transfers, agreements for sale, declarations of trust, surrenders, foreclosures, vesting orders, lease premiums, and certain changes in beneficial ownership of dutiable property). The tax base is the greater of consideration and unencumbered value (s 21). Rates are progressive for residential land (ss 32–32C) and flat for other dutiable property.
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Chapter 2A – Surcharge purchaser duty on residential-related property acquired by foreign persons. The rate is a flat 8 % (as at 1 July 2024) in addition to ordinary transfer duty (s 104U).
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Chapter 3 – Deemed transfers arising from the assignment of call options, novation of lease agreements, and certain partnership changes (ss 9A–9C). These are taxed as if they were transfers of the underlying dutiable property.
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Chapter 4 – Landholder duty. A person who acquires a “significant interest” (generally 50 % or more for private landholders, 90 % for public landholders) in a landholder (a private company or unit trust that holds land valued at $2 m or more) is taxed on the unencumbered value of the landholder’s land and goods in New South Wales (s 155). The rate mirrors the general transfer-duty scale.