Part 17 Transitional matters for Revenue
Legislation Amendment Act 2025
117 Application of amendments ......................................................... 122
As in force at 1 July 2025
STAMP DUTY ACT 1978
An Act relating to stamp duty
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Stamp Duty Act 1978.
2 Commencement
This Act shall come into operation on 1 July 1978.
4 Interpretation
(1) In this Act:
accident insurance, see section 37A.
agreement, in relation to a conveyance, includes:
(a) a memorandum of agreement; and
(b) an arrangement or understanding, whether wholly or partly in
writing or otherwise and whether or not between all the parties
to the agreement, constituting or forming part of the
approved means approved for the purposes of this Act by the
associate, see subsection (2).
authorised stamp means a stamp approved by the Commissioner
for use under this Act to denote the payment of duty (or that no duty
is payable).
beneficiary includes an object of a discretionary trust.
brother/sister – a person is the brother or sister of another if they
have one or both parents in common.
Stamp Duty Act 1978 2
building contractor, for Part 5, Division 2A, see section 90C(1).
business undertaking includes all business undertakings whether
or not carried on with a view to profit.
change in control, of a corporation – a change in control of a
corporation occurs when a person, or a group of associates,
becomes able to exercise, or to control (directly or indirectly) the
exercise of, a majority of the votes exercisable at meetings of the
directors or shareholders of the corporation.
change in control, of a trust includes the following:
(a) if a person has a power to appoint and revoke the
appointment of the trustee:
(i) a change of, or a change in control of, the person who
has the power; or
(ii) a variation in, or the transfer or some other disposition
of, the power;
(b) a change of trustee, a change in control of a corporate trustee,
or the appointment of an additional trustee;
(c) a change of, or a change in control of, a person in a position to
make or influence (directly or indirectly) a decision to vest, or
to refrain from vesting, an interest in the trust property in a
beneficiary.
company includes a body, society, association, authority or
institution, whether corporate or unincorporate, but does not include
a partnership.
consideration, in relation to a conveyance, means the
consideration for the conveyance without any deduction or discount
for the amount of GST (if any) payable in relation to the supply of
the property conveyed.
convertible Crown lease means a lease granted by or in the name
of the Territory under the terms of which the lessee has the right to
surrender the lease in exchange for the grant of an estate in fee
simple in the land or part of the land held under the lease.
conveyance includes the following:
(a) the grant of property, but not the grant of a lease other than a
convertible Crown lease;
(b) the transfer or assignment of property;
Stamp Duty Act 1978 3
(c) the vesting of property in, or the accrual of property to, a
person;
(d) the foreclosure of a mortgagor's equity of redemption in
mortgaged property;
(e) a transaction that is taken to be, or treated as, a conveyance
under this Act;
(f) an agreement to make a conveyance;
(g) an instrument effecting or evidencing a conveyance (including
a decree, judgment or order of a court);
(h) an instrument, agreement, transaction or arrangement that
would operate as a conveyance but for a statutory condition
requiring Ministerial approval or registration.
conveyee means a person to whom property is granted,
transferred or assigned, in whom property is vested, or to whom
property accrues under a conveyance.
declaration of trust means a declaration (other than a declaration
by will or testamentary instrument) that property vested, or to be
vested, in the declarant is, or is to be, held in trust and includes
such a declaration whether made unilaterally or by agreement and
whether made with or without the knowledge of the beneficiaries.
developed, for Part 5, Division 2A, see section 90C(2).
discretionary trust means a trust under which:
(a) the identity of a beneficiary, or the quantum of the interest in
trust property to be taken by a beneficiary, is to be determined
by the trustee or some other person; or
(b) an interest in trust property vests if a discretion conferred
under the terms of the trust is not exercised; or
(c) an interest in trust property has vested but is liable, under the
terms of the trust, to be divested on the exercise of a
discretion by the trustee or some other person;
and includes a trust classified by regulation as a discretionary trust
but does not include a trust solely for charitable purposes or a trust
of a class excluded by regulation from the ambit of this definition.
dutiable instrument means an instrument:
(a) that is classified as a dutiable instrument in Schedule 1; or
Stamp Duty Act 1978 4
(b) that is liable to duty under any other provision of this Act.
dutiable property means:
(a) land; and
(h) an option to purchase dutiable property or an interest in
dutiable property; and
(j) chattels, if part of a transaction in which other dutiable
property is conveyed, acquired or created or the beneficial
ownership is changed, other than:
(i) goods, wares or merchandise that are stock-in-trade; or
(ii) materials held for use in manufacture; or
(iii) goods under manufacture; or
(iv) livestock; or
(v) any motor vehicle in respect of which a motor vehicle
certificate of registration is or will, in the opinion of the
Commissioner, be issued to the conveyee; or
(vi) cash or money in an account at call; or
(vii) negotiable instruments, and money on deposit with any
person,
and includes an estate or interest (which may be a partnership
interest) in dutiable property.
dutiable transaction – a transaction is a dutiable transaction if:
(a) a liability to ad valorem duty is imposed under this Act in
respect of the transaction; or
(b) an instrument effecting, or evidencing, the transaction is liable
to ad valorem duty under this Act; or
(c) the transaction was not effected by an instrument but, if it had
been, the instrument would have been liable to ad valorem
duty under this Act; or
(d) a statement or return is required under this Act in relation to
the transaction and the statement or return is liable to
ad valorem duty.
dutiable value, see section 4AB.
Stamp Duty Act 1978 5
duty means stamp duty.
entity A, for a merger vesting of property, see section 4E(2).
entity B, for a merger vesting of property, see section 4E(4).
execute, in relation to an instrument, means sign the instrument
and, if the instrument is under seal, sign and seal the instrument,
and, for the purposes of this Act, an instrument is first executed the
first time that it is signed or, as the case may require, signed and
sealed, by any party to it, but an agreement made by acceptance of
an offer contained in an instrument is first executed when the offer
is accepted in writing.
exempt entity, see section 4F.
exempt instrument or transaction means an instrument or
transaction that:
(a) is exempt from duty under Schedule 2 or any other provision
of this Act; or
(b) is exempted from duty under the regulations.
family means 2 or more persons connected with each other by
family relationships.
family company means a company of which all shareholders are
members of the same family.
family relationship means any of the following relationships:
(a) the relationship between a person and the person's spouse;
(b) the relationship between a person and the person's child or
remoter lineal descendant;
(c) the relationship between a person and the child or remoter
lineal descendant of the person's spouse;
(d) the relationship between a person and the person's brother or
sister;
(e) the relationship between a person and the child or remoter
lineal descendant of a brother or sister;
(f) the relationship between a person and the spouse of a person
with whom a relationship exists under paragraph (b), (c), (d)
or (e).
Stamp Duty Act 1978 6
family trust means a trust whose beneficiaries are, and may only
be, any of the following in relation to a particular family:
(a) members of the family;
(b) family companies of the family.
farm-in agreement means a written agreement under which a
person is entitled to acquire an interest in (but not full ownership of)
a resource interest by carrying out exploration work, or contributing
a proportionate part of the cost of exploration work to be carried
out, on the area of that resource interest after the date of the
farming land means land, or an estate or interest in land, that is
farming property.
farming property means property used solely or principally for
farming purposes and includes an estate or interest in such
farming purposes means:
(a) the business of primary production; or
(b) a purpose classified by regulation as a farming purpose.
financial market has the same meaning as in section 767A of the
Corporations Act 2001.
goods includes all chattels personal other than money or things in
action.
Government Business Division has the same meaning as in the
Financial Management Act 1995.
GST has the same meaning as in the A New Tax System (Goods
and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth.
instrument includes any document.
insurance means an undertaking of liability to make good, or
indemnify against, loss or damage (including liability to pay
damages or compensation), or insuring the payment of money,
contingent upon the happening of a specified event, and includes:
(a) the accepting of a premium in consideration of the granting,
issuing or renewal of a policy of insurance; and
Stamp Duty Act 1978 7
(b) the granting of a cover note or receiving of a letter or
declaration of interest attaching to a policy of insurance; and
(c) the carrying out, by means of insurance effected outside the
Territory, of a contract or undertaking in the Territory to effect
that insurance; and
(ca) a life insurance rider;
but does not include:
(d) re-insurance effected with another insurer; or
(e) the insurance of the hull of a floating vessel that is being used
primarily for commercial purposes; or
(f) the insurance of goods or merchandise or the freight of goods
or merchandise, carried by sea, land or air.
insurer means a person that grants, issues or renews, or intends to
grant, issue or renew, a policy of insurance in respect of which duty
is imposed.
interest in property includes the potential beneficial interest of an
object of a discretionary trust.
interposed trust, for Part 3, Division 8A, see section 56C(1).
land means land in the Territory and includes:
(a) an estate or interest in land; and
(b) a lease of land or an interest in a lease of land; and
(ba) a resource interest or an interest in a resource interest; and
(c) a fixture to land (including a tenant's fixture or a fixture
associated with operations conducted, or formerly conducted,
on the land in relation to a resource interest).
land-holding corporation means a land-holding corporation as
defined for Part 3, Division 8A and includes a unit trust scheme that
is treated as a land-holding corporation for the purposes of that
Division.
lease includes:
(a) a lease granted under an Act; and
(b) a sublease; and
Stamp Duty Act 1978 8
(c) an agreement for a lease or sublease.
legislation includes subordinate legislation and an instrument
made under principal or subordinate legislation.
life insurance, see section 37A.
life insurance rider, see section 37A.
life insurer means a company carrying on the business of, or in
relation to, the issuing of, or the undertaking of liability under, life
policies and includes a person who receives or takes credit for a
premium or consideration for any life insurance.
life policy means a policy effecting life insurance.
listed corporation, for Part 3, Division 8A, see section 56C(1).
listed unit trust scheme, for Part 3, Division 8A, see
section 56C(1).
majority shareholder, of a corporation, means a person who has a
substantial holding (as defined in section 9 of the Corporations
Act 2001) related to voting shares carrying 50% or more of the
votes attached to voting shares in the corporation.
marketable security means a marketable security not quoted on a
recognised financial market and includes:
(a) a share in the capital of a company that is not quoted on a
recognised financial market; and
(b) a right (whether existing or future and whether contingent or
not) of a person to have issued or transferred to the person a
share of a kind referred to in paragraph (a), whether on
payment of money or other consideration or not; and
(c) any right or interest (whether described as a unit, sub-unit or
otherwise) of a beneficiary under a unit trust scheme that is
not quoted on a recognised financial market.
merger vesting, of property, see section 4E.
merging entities, for a merger vesting of property, see
section 4E(2) or (3).
merging entity or entities, for a merger vesting of property, see
section 4E(4).
Stamp Duty Act 1978 9
mining tenement means a statutory licence, lease or authorisation
to explore for, recover or exploit a resource, other than petroleum,
found in or under the surface of the earth and includes a mineral
title under the Mineral Titles Act 2010.
Note for definition mining tenement
A resource found under the surface of the earth includes a mineral or a
geothermal resource.
motor vehicle certificate of registration means a certificate of
registration issued on the registration or the transfer of the
registration of a motor vehicle under the Motor Vehicles Act 1949.
new home, for Part 5, Division 2A, see section 90C(1).
object, of a discretionary trust, means a person in whom an interest
in the trust property might vest, or might be vested, under the terms
of the trust.
partnership acquisition, see section 27(2).
partnership interest means a partnership interest as defined in
Part 3, Division 3.
petroleum interest means a lease, licence, permit, interest or
other authority issued or granted in the Territory under any of the
(a) the Petroleum Act 1984;
(b) the Energy Pipelines Act 1981;
(c) the Petroleum (Submerged Lands) Act 1981;
(d) any other Act respecting:
(i) the conveyance of petroleum by pipeline or the
construction or operation of a pipeline to convey
petroleum; or
(ii) the exploration for, or the recovery or exploitation of,
petroleum.
Stamp Duty Act 1978 10
premium, in relation to insurance, means the gross amount
charged or payable in respect of the insurance (which amount does
not include any stamp duty paid or payable under this Act):
(a) without deduction for an amount paid or payable or allowed or
allowable by way of discount or commission to an agent or
other person for securing or arranging that insurance for or on
behalf of the insurer; and
(b) without any deduction or discount for the amount of GST (if
any) payable in relation to the supply of the insurance,
and includes an instalment of a premium.
primary production means:
(a) the growing or cultivation of trees, crops or other vegetation
(including fungi) for sale or for sale of their produce; or
(b) the breeding, rearing or maintenance of living creatures for
sale as food or for the production of skins, shells or bodily
produce for sale.
property includes an estate or interest in property.
recognised financial market means a financial market that is a
member of the World Federation of Exchanges or is declared by
regulation to be a recognised financial market.
Registrar means the Registrar within the meaning of the Motor
Vehicles Act 1949.
related – a corporation is related to another corporation if they are
related corporations under section 50 of the Corporations Act 2001.
relevant acquisition has the meaning in section 56P.
relevant entity, for a merger vesting of property, see section 4E(5).
rent includes any amount of GST payable in relation to the supply
of the property for which rent is paid or payable.
resource interest means a mining tenement or a petroleum
responsible party, to a dutiable instrument or dutiable transaction,
means the party responsible for the payment of duty on the
instrument or transaction and includes, where a dutiable transaction
is not effected by a dutiable instrument, a person who would have
been liable to pay duty on a dutiable instrument if such an
Stamp Duty Act 1978 11
instrument had existed.
spouse includes de facto partner.
stamp duty means duty imposed under this Act or the former
Stamp Duty Act 1978.
statutory vesting means the vesting of property by or under
legislation of the Commonwealth, a State or Territory of the
Commonwealth or a jurisdiction outside Australia.
supply has the same meaning as in the A New Tax System (Goods
and Services Tax) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth.
tax avoidance scheme has the meaning in section 4B.
trust property includes both capital and income of a trust.
trustee includes the following:
(a) a person constituted a trustee under an implied or constructive
trust;
(b) an executor of the will, or an administrator of the estate, of a
deceased person;
(c) a receiver, guardian, committee or manager of the property of
a person under a legal or other disability;
(d) a receiver or manager of the property of a company or a
liquidator of a company for the purpose of its winding-up.
unencumbered value of property, see section 4A.
unit trust scheme means any arrangements made for the purpose,
or having the effect, of providing, for persons having funds available
for investment, facilities for the participation by them, as
beneficiaries under a trust, in any profits or income arising from the
acquisition, holding, management or disposal of any property
whatsoever pursuant to that trust.
unlisted unit trust scheme, for Part 3, Division 8A, see
section 56C(1).
The Interpretation Act 1978 contains definitions and other provisions that may be
relevant to this Act.
(2) A person is an associate of another if:
(a) they are members of the same family; or
Stamp Duty Act 1978 12
(b) they are related corporations; or
(c) one is a corporation and the other is a director of, or a
shareholder in, the corporation; or
(d) they are both trustees of the same trust, or of different trusts
with a common beneficiary, or one is a trustee and the other is
a beneficiary of the same trust; or
(e) a chain of relationships can be traced between them under
one or more of the above paragraphs.
(3) Legislation is taken to provide for the statutory vesting of property if
it makes a person or body the successor in title to property of
another person or body.
(4) An instrument is duly stamped if the payment of duty on the
instrument or the non-liability of the instrument to duty is indicated
by:
(a) an authorised stamp on the instrument; or
(b) an endorsement made on the instrument in a manner and
form approved by the Commissioner.
(5) Despite subsection (4), a policy of insurance is duly stamped when:
(a) the duty imposed in relation to the policy has been paid; or
(b) the policy is exempt from, or otherwise not liable for duty,
under this Act or another law in force in the Territory.
Part Part 17 - Stamp Duty Act 1978 - Transitional matters for Revenue | Zoe