Tasmania act

First Home Owner Grant Act 2000

In ForceTAS

Jurisdiction

Tasmania

Act Number

19 of 2000

Collection

act

Plain English Summary

7/10 complexity

Mechanically, this Act creates a state‑funded, one‑off First Home Owner Grant for eligible first‑time buyers of homes in Tasmania, and sets out who may apply, what transactions qualify, how to apply, payment mechanics and recovery/penalty rules. The Commissioner of State Revenue administers the scheme and has broad discretion (including pre‑payments, exemptions, conditions, delegation and investigations); affected persons face verification, residence and reporting obligations and possible repayment or penalties if conditions are breached.

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What it does

Mechanically, the Act establishes a state-administered cash grant scheme for persons who are first home owners (the First Home Owner Grant scheme). It creates an entitlement framework (Part 2) that: defines who counts as an applicant (ss 8-9), sets exclusion rules about prior ownership or prior grants (ss 10-11), prescribes a residence-and-ownership condition (s 12), specifies which transactions qualify as “eligible transactions” (s 13), requires applications to be made to the Commissioner of State Revenue in prescribed form within a statutory window (s 14), and gives the Commissioner power to authorise payment, impose conditions and recover amounts where payments are improper (ss 17, 19, 21, 38-39). The Act also sets out the mechanics for payment timing (including payment in anticipation of the residence requirement, s 20), how multiple applicants join in an application (s 15), and how applications by or for persons under legal disability are handled (s 16).

The amount of the grant is statutory and contingent on the timing and character of the eligible transaction (s 18). Section 18 sets a floor rule,the grant is the lesser of the consideration and a statutory cap,and then links particular caps and enhanced amounts to discrete date ranges and specified conditions in ss 18A-18L (those sections create time-limited windows or targetted increases, each with completion/commencement requirements). Section 7(4) also excludes some transactions where another State grant (the Tasmanian HomeBuilder) has been paid in respect of the same transaction.

Administration and enforcement mechanics are concentrated in the office of the Commissioner of State Revenue. The Commissioner is the decision-maker (s 17), may delegate or enter administration agreements with banks or other institutions (s 31), may appoint authorised officers to investigate (s 31A), and has statutory investigatory and entry powers, including compulsory production, attendance and inspection powers (ss 32-36, 35). The Commissioner may vary or reverse earlier decisions within the statutory window (s 23), require repayment and impose penalties where payments were incorrect or procured by false or misleading information (ss 37-39), and is empowered to recover amounts as a debt and, where appropriate, to charge the recipient’s interest in the home as a first charge (s 39(3)-(4)). The Act creates criminal and civil penalties for non-compliance with investigative notices, for false statements, for obstruction of authorised officers and for contraventions of conditions of grant (ss 34-37, 21, 31(4), 35(5)).

Current sections

Direct links to the current provisions in First Home Owner Grant Act 2000.

Part 1

Preliminary

Part 1 Preliminary

Short title

1 Short title

This Act may be cited as the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 .

Commencement

2 Commencement

This Act commences on 1 July 2000.

Interpretation

3 Interpretation

(1) In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears –

Australian citizen means an Australian citizen as defined in the Australian Citizenship Act 1948 of the Commonwealth;

authorised investigation has the meaning given by section 32 ;

[Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 46 of 2008, s. 21, Applied:18 Nov 2008]

[Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 46 of 2008, s. 21, Applied:18 Nov 2008] authorised officer means a person appointed as an authorised officer under section 31A ;

building includes part of a building;

commencement date, in relation to an eligible transaction, has the meaning given by section 13(4) ;

Commissioner means the Commissioner of State Revenue;

completed, in relation to an eligible transaction, has the meaning given by section 13(5) ;

comprehensive home building contract means a contract under which a builder undertakes to build a home on land from the inception of the building work to the point where the home is ready for occupation and, if for any reason the work to be carried out under such a contract is not completed, includes any further contract under which the work is to be completed;

consideration, in relation to an eligible transaction, has the meaning given by section 13(7) ;

corresponding law means an Act of another State, or a Territory, corresponding to this Act;

eligibility criteria means the criteria, set out in Division 2 of Part 2 , for determining whether an applicant for a first home owner grant is eligible for the grant;

eligible transaction has the meaning given by section 13(1) ;

first home owner grant means a grant authorised under section 17 ;

first home owner grant scheme means the scheme for payment of first home owner grants established under this Act;

function includes a power;

guardian, in relation to a person under a legal disability, includes a trustee who holds property on trust for the person under an instrument of trust or by order or direction of a court or tribunal;

home has the meaning given by section 4 ;

[Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 22 of 2013, s. 6, Applied:01 Jul 2013] new home means –

(a) a home that has not previously been occupied or sold as a place of residence; or

(b) a home that –

(i) under section 40-75(1)(b) of the A New Tax System (Goods and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth, would be considered new residential premises due to substantial renovations; and

(ii) has not been occupied or sold as a place of residence since those substantial renovations were completed;

option to purchase includes a right of preemption or a right of first refusal;

owner means –

(a) in relation to land, a person who has a relevant interest in the land; and

(b) in relation to a home, a person who has a relevant interest in the land on which the home is built;

owner builder means an owner of land who builds a home, or has a home built, on the land without entering into a comprehensive home building contract;

[Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 94 of 2000, s. 4, Applied:01 Jul 2000]

[Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 94 of 2000, s. 4, Applied:01 Jul 2000] permanent resident means –

(a) the holder of a permanent visa within the meaning of section 30 of the Migration Act 1958 of the Commonwealth; or

(b) a New Zealand citizen who holds a special category visa within the meaning of section 32 of the Migration Act 1958 of the Commonwealth;

relevant interest has the meaning given by section 5(2) , (3) and (4) ;

[Section 3 Subsection (1) amended by No. 79 of 2003, s. 4, Applied:01 Jan 2004] residence requirement means the requirement that an applicant for a first home owner grant must occupy the home to which the application relates as the applicant's principal place of residence for a continuous period of at least 6 months (or any lesser period approved by the Commissioner under section 12(1A) ) commencing within the 12-month period immediately after the completion of the eligible transaction or a longer period approved by the Commissioner;

residential property has the meaning given by subsection (2) ;

spouse has the meaning given by section 6 ;

taxation law means a law for the assessment or imposition of a tax.

(2) [Section 3 Subsection (2) amended by No. 6 of 2010, s. 13, Applied:09 Jul 2010] For the purpose of this Act, land in Australia is residential property at a particular time if there is, at that time, a building on the land lawfully occupied as a place of residence and suitable for occupation as a place of residence.

Homes

4 Homes

A home is a building (affixed to land) that –

(a) may lawfully be used as a place of residence; and

(b) is, in the Commissioner's opinion, a suitable building for use as a place of residence.

Ownership of land and homes

5 Ownership of land and homes

(1) A person is an owner of a home or a home owner if the person has a relevant interest in land on which a home is built.

(2) Each of the following is, subject to subsection (3) , a relevant interest in land:

(a) an estate in fee simple in the land;

(b) a life estate in the land approved by the Commissioner;

(c) a perpetual lease of the land granted by the Commonwealth or the State;

(d) a leasehold interest in the land granted by the Commonwealth or the State that may be converted under the terms of the lease or by statute into an estate in fee simple;

(e) an interest as purchaser under a contract for the purchase from the Commonwealth or the State of an estate in fee simple in the land by instalments;

(f) a licence or right of occupancy granted by the Commonwealth or the State that gives, in the Commissioner's opinion, the licensee or the holder of the right reasonable security of tenure;

(g) an interest in a company's shares if the Commissioner is satisfied that –

(i) the interest entitles the holder of the interest to exclusive occupation of a specified home owned by the company; and

(ii) the value of the shares is not less than the value of the company's interest in the home.

(3) Subject to subsection (4) –

(a) an interest is not a relevant interest at a particular time unless the holder of the interest has, or will have within 12 months after that time (or a longer time allowed by the Commissioner), a right to immediate occupation of the land; and

(b) an interest is not a relevant interest in the hands of a person who holds it subject to a trust; and

(c) an equitable interest is not a relevant interest unless it is the interest of a person under a legal disability for whom a guardian holds the interest on trust.

(4) The Commissioner may recognise an interest (a non-conforming interest) as a relevant interest in land even though the interest may not conform with subsections (2) and (3) (and even though the interest may not be recognised at law or in equity as an interest in land) if there is, in the Commissioner's opinion, good reason to do so.

(5) If the Commissioner recognises a non-conforming interest as a relevant interest in land and, in consequence, a first home owner grant is to be paid, the Commissioner may impose appropriate conditions on the payment of the grant to ensure its recovery if suppositions about future conduct or events made by the Commissioner in recognising the interest later prove to be incorrect.

Spouses

6 Spouses

(1) A person is the spouse of another if –

(a) they are legally married; or

(b) [Section 6 Subsection (1) amended by No. 45 of 2003, Sched. 1, Applied:01 Jan 2004] they are in a significant relationship, within the meaning of the Relationships Act 2003 .

(2) If the Commissioner is satisfied that, at the time of deciding an application for a first home owner grant, an applicant –

(a) is legally married but not cohabiting with the person to whom the applicant is legally married; and

(b) has no intention of resuming cohabitation –

the person to whom the applicant is legally married is not to be regarded as the applicant's spouse.

Part 2