Part 5Enforcement

Part 5—Enforcement 18—Contracts etc to evade land tax (1) Where a contract, agreement or arrangement entered into in writing or verbally (whether before or after the commencement of the Land Tax Act Amendment Act 1977) has or purports to have the purpose (whether as the main or a subsidiary purpose) of in any way directly or indirectly— (a) altering the incidence of land tax; or (b) relieving any person from liability to pay land tax, or reducing any such liability; or (c) defeating, evading or avoiding any obligation or liability imposed by this Act, the Commissioner may, by notice in writing given to the parties treat that contract, agreement or arrangement as void for the purposes of this Act. (2) Where the Commissioner has, in pursuance of this section, treated a contract, agreement or arrangement as void for the purposes of this Act, it will be presumed, in any legal proceedings, in the absence of proof to the contrary, that the purpose of the contract, agreement or arrangement is such as would attract the operation of this section. 19—Time for payment of tax (1) The amount specified in an assessment by the Commissioner as land tax payable in respect of land for a financial year must be paid to the Commissioner within 30 days after service of the assessment on the taxpayer, or, if there is more than one taxpayer liable to pay the tax in respect of the land, on any one of the taxpayers. (2) If— (a) a person who otherwise would have been served with an assessment for— (i) the payment of an amount of land tax; or (ii) the correct amount of land tax, has not been served with such an assessment or has been served with an assessment for an incorrect amount (as the case requires) on account of— (iii) gaining an exemption (or partial exemption) from land tax that should not have applied under this Act (including by an exemption continuing after it should have come to an end); or (iv) receiving a waiver or refund that should not have been given; or (v) the liability of a person who owns land as trustee of a trust not being assessed in accordance with the applicable table under Schedule 1; or (vi) an owner's total interest in land not being included in an assessment in accordance with section 9(6); or (vii) corporations not being grouped as related corporations in accordance with section 13G(5); and (b) the failure to serve the assessment, or to serve an assessment for the correct amount of land tax, is attributable (wholly or in part) to— (i) false, misleading or incomplete information that has been provided to the Commissioner; or (ii) information or a notification that should have been provided to the Commissioner not being so provided, then the provision, or non‑provision, of that information (as the case may be) will be taken to constitute a tax default by the person for the purposes of the Taxation Administration Act 1996. (3) In connection with the operation of subsection (2)— (a) the tax default will be taken to have occurred— (i) in the case of a default resulting in a failure to serve an assessment for the payment of an amount of land tax on account of a matter referred to in subsection (2)(a)(iii) or (iv)—on the day on which the exemption applied from or the waiver or refund was given (as the case may be); or (ii) in any other case—on the day on which the liability to an amount of land tax should have been raised; and (b) an assessment under subsection (1) may specify any interest accrued or penalty tax payable under the Taxation Administration Act 1996 in respect of a preceding financial year, including where an assessment of land tax has not been previously served with respect to that financial year, or where an assessment served with respect to that financial year did not identify the tax default; and (c) a liability to pay interest under the Taxation Administration Act 1996 will accrue from the day applying under paragraph (a) (and not a day determined under section 25(1) of that Act). 20—Power to let or sell land liable to tax (1) If tax is in arrears for 6 months or more, the Commissioner may have a notice published in the Gazette— (a) specifying the land in respect of which the tax is payable; and (b) specifying the amount of the tax in arrears; and (c) stating that if the tax is not paid within 3 months of the date of the notice the Commissioner will let the land, or apply to the Supreme Court for an order for sale of the land. (2) If at the expiration of 3 months from the date of a notice published under subsection (1) any part of the tax remains in arrears the Commissioner may— (a) let the land; or (b) apply to the Supreme Court for an order for the sale of the land. (3) The Supreme Court may, on an application under subsection (2)(b)— (a) make an order for the sale of the land; and (b) give directions as to how the proceeds of sale are to be dealt with. (4) Subject to any directions of the Supreme Court under subsection (3), where land is leased or sold in pursuance of this section the proceeds will be applied by the Commissioner towards the payment of the arrears of tax and the costs of proceeding under this section and any surplus must be paid to the person beneficially entitled to the land or, if the land has been sold, to the person who was beneficially entitled to the land prior to the sale. 21—Transfer of land in satisfaction of tax liability Where land is unencumbered except by a liability to pay tax, the Commissioner may, on behalf of the Crown, accept a transfer of an estate in fee simple in the land in satisfaction of the liability for tax. 22—Tax first charge on land (1) Subject to this Act, tax is, until payment, a first charge on the land in respect of which the tax is payable. (2) Where land tax is levied against the common property, or part of the common property, of a community scheme under the Community Titles Act 1996, the tax is not a charge on the common property but is, instead, a first charge on each of the community lots of the community scheme. 23—Certificates in respect of liability to tax (1) Upon application by the purchaser of any land, or the purchaser's agent, and payment of the prescribed fee, the Commissioner may issue a certificate showing the amount (if any) of tax that is, or will be, payable under this Act in respect of the land on a specified date (the relevant date). (2) Where the Commissioner is unable to calculate exactly the amount referred to in subsection (1), the Commissioner may make an estimate of that amount. (3) Where the land in respect of which an application is made under this section is only part of the land included in a land tax assessment, the certificate referred to in subsection (1) must relate to the whole of the land comprised in the assessment. (4) Where— (a) the amount (if any) stated in a certificate given under this section is paid within a period specified in the certificate; or (b) the certificate indicates that no amount is or will be payable, the purchaser and the purchaser's successors in title are released from any liability to tax that accrued in respect of the land before the relevant date, and no such liability is or remains a charge upon the land after it becomes vested in the purchaser. 24—Alterations to valuations The right of the Commissioner to recover tax under this Act is not suspended or delayed by an objection, review or appeal in relation to a valuation under the Valuation of Land Act 1971 and the Commissioner may recover tax on the assumption that the valuation is correct, but if any alteration to a valuation affecting the amount of land tax payable in respect of any land is made under that Act (whether in consequence of an objection, review or appeal, or otherwise) the Commissioner must make a reassessment of the liability to land tax in respect of the land.