Duties Alert: NSW Revenue lodgement changes for sale of land with a dutiable value of $20 million or more

Revenue NSW has recently announced that agreements for the sale of land with a dutiable value of $20 million or more will need to be lodged using the eDuties service. The dutiable value is the greater of:

• the consideration (normally the purchase price) paid for the property, and
• the unencumbered value (market value) of the property.

Currently, contracts for the sale of land, regardless of dutiable value, can be assessed via the Electronic Duties Returns (EDR) portal, which allows registered solicitors, conveyancers, and process agents to self-assess and pay duty electronically.

From 8 October 2024, transactions involving agreements for the sale of land with a dutiable value of $20 million or greater, will need to be lodged via the eDuties portal for assessment by Revenue NSW. The change has been driven by recent Revenue NSW audit activity which has indicated that high-value transactions made through EDR carry a greater risk of having been assessed incorrectly.

A transitional period will be in place from 19 September 2024, during which transactions can be lodged via the EDR portal or submitted for assessment via the eDuties Portal. Revenue NSW has indicated that there will be no changes to the lodgement processes for exemptions or concessions to duty. Further details on the changes can be found here.

Taxpayers should be wary of the additional time now required for duty assessments as a result of this change. Generally, Revenue NSW requires 28 days to assess transfer duty transactions lodged directly with it. From a planning perspective, it is important that stamp duty advice is sought early on to minimise unwanted delays on implementing transactions.