In an unanimous decision handed down today [Thur 15.8.2013], the Victorian Court of Appeal has allowed the appeal of 3 taxpayers (property developers) against an earlier decision which had affirmed stamp duty assessments issued under the Duties Act 2000 (Vic).
The Court said the contest on the appeals lay in the question of whether certain amounts paid by the taxpayers to VicUrban (the vendor) in respect of infrastructure and construction works pursuant to the contractual arrangements made under certain development agreements formed part of the consideration for the transfer of the land under s 20(1) of the Duties Act. The Commissioner had included these various “additional” payments as “consideration for” the assessment of duty.
In allowing the appeal, the Court of Appeal concluded that the primary judge had “shifted his focus from the statutory question he was obliged to ask under s 20(1) of the Act, and the evaluation of the transaction of the transfer of the land, and came to treat the relevant transfer, for the purpose of assessing duty, as the transfer of the land in the condition it would be in once it had been developed.” In doing so, the Court of Appeal also rejected the Commissioner’s secondary arguments that the contribution payments were “encumbrances” under s 21(1).
(Lend Lease Development Pty Ltd & Ors v Comr of State Revenue [2013] VSCA 207, Victorian Court of Appeal, Warren CJ, Tate JA and Kyrou AJA, 15 August 2013.)
[LTN 157, 15/8/13]