A taxpayer has been successful before the WA State Administrative Tribunal in a matter concerning how, for the purposes of assessment of duty, the value of a transaction involving a single sale of 32 lots of residential land should be determined.
The WA Commissioner of State Revenue contended that the dutiable value of the transaction was the aggregate of the amounts for which each lot could be sold (ie $3.835m inclusive of GST). The taxpayer contended that the value should be assessed on a “sale in one line” basis. That basis brought to account the factors which a buyer of multiple lots, intending to resell them individually, would apply in order to take account of matters such as holding costs, selling costs, profit and risk.
The Tribunal concluded that the taxpayer’s approach was the correct approach and directed that the Commissioner reassess the duty. It found the transaction involved a single transaction for the sale of 32 lots, and not 32 individual transactions. On balance, the Tribunal preferred the value attributed to the 32 lots sold in one line as determined by the valuer for the taxpayer. Therefore, the Tribunal directed the Commissioner issue a re-assessment of duty and that the dutiable value of the transaction be $2.2m.
(Hazel Holdings Pty Ltd and Comr of State Revenue [2013] WASAT 93, WA State Administrative Tribunal, Chaney P, 24 June 2013.)
[LTN 125, 2/7/13]