Australia, Aug. 16 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on July 15:

1. The Applicant bought a 40 acre property at Bellingen in August 2019. There was an existing house ("Existing House"), a large shed ("Shed"), and a caravan (with annex) ("Caravan") on the property when he purchased it.

2. He claimed, and received, a full exemption from duty under the First Home Buyers Assistance Scheme ("the Scheme) in the Duties Act 1997 (NSW) ("Duties Act"). The nature of the Scheme is described in s 69 of the Duties Act as being "intended to help people who are acquiring their first home".

3. After the property was acquired, the Applicant never lived in the Existing House. He rented that out from August 2019 to April 2022. He also rented out the Caravan to another person. The Applicant did some work converting part of the Shed into his own residence and used the rest of the Shed to store some business equipment.

4. The Applicant says that he occupied the Shed as his principal place of residence, and started to build a new house on the land ("New House"). He did a lot of the work himself. He said that he lived in the Shed from 15 August 2019 until April 2022, when he moved out of the Shed to live in the New House. He is still finishing it off.

5. Following an investigation, the Respondent reversed the exemption, and assessed the Applicant to duty, interest and 25% penalty tax on 9 April 2024. That is the decision that is under review in these proceedings.

6. The questions are:

1) Was there an "eligible" agreement or transfer for the purpose of s 74(1) of the Duties Act, in circumstances where there were no occupation certificates or Council approvals ever granted in respect of the Shed, or for the Existing House;

2) Whether the transaction "involve[d] the acquisition of a business or business premises" and was therefore not eligible for the exemption under s 75(1) of the Duties Act;

3) Whether the Applicant satisfied the residence requirement in s 76 of the Duties Act;

4) If not, whether the Tribunal has a discretion to waive the requirements of the Duties Act; and

5) If not, whether the Tribunal should exercise its discretion to remit interest and/or penalties in whole or in part.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/1980714a205c79a11dc48d61)

Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.