BLIGH DELIVERS A WIN FOR RETIREMENT VILLAGE RESIDENTS
Published Thursday, 23 August, 2007 at 11:51 AM
Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Infrastructure
The Honourable Anna Bligh
August 22, 2007
The State Government will change the conditions of the transfer duty home concession to ensure retirement villages residents who own their units but are required to sign lease arrangements with village operators will not be disadvantaged, Deputy Premier and Treasurer Anna Bligh said today.
Ms Bligh said the change covered the situation where retirement villages require a lease-back of the resident's freehold unit to the operator and then a sub-lease back to the resident. The arrangements are a legal procedure that allow villages to set by-laws on the properties.
But it meant some solicitors had advised clients they were no longer eligible for the State Government’s stamp duty rebate because the unit was no longer “their” principal of residence, meaning that they missed out on thousands of dollars.
"The solicitors’ advice was quite proper but it was somewhat of a grey area. There was ambiguity in the law that allowed solicitors to interpret it in a number of ways,” Ms Bligh said.
“In some cases people were the only ones in their retirement village to have missed out.”
Ms Bligh said the Government would start advertisements this weekend, asking people who had missed out on the stamp duty rebate to contact the Government so a refund could be arranged. The change will be retrospective for five years.
"It was always the Government's intention that if a person occupying their unit as their principal place of residence meets all the usual conditions of the concession, they will be able to claim the rebate,” she said.
"Residents in these cases should not be financially disadvantaged simply because arrangements of the retirement village operator over which they have little control."
Ms Bligh said the difference in duty payments on an average retirement village property was about $4000 but it varied according to purchase price.
The Office of State Revenue will write to the operators of all registered retirement villages in Queensland and to all registered self-assessors to notify them of the change and to advise of the requirements to obtain a refund. The retirement village operators and self-assessors will then be able to identify any affected persons and notify them of the requirements.
Retirement village residents who became liable for transfer duty at the higher rate within that time may be entitled to a partial refund of the duty and should contact their professional adviser or the Office of State Revenue on 1300 300 734. Information will be posted on the Office of State Revenue website (www.osr.treasury.gov.au).
More information: Deputy Premier's Office 3224 6900
The State Government will change the conditions of the transfer duty home concession to ensure retirement villages residents who own their units but are required to sign lease arrangements with village operators will not be disadvantaged, Deputy Premier and Treasurer Anna Bligh said today.
Ms Bligh said the change covered the situation where retirement villages require a lease-back of the resident's freehold unit to the operator and then a sub-lease back to the resident. The arrangements are a legal procedure that allow villages to set by-laws on the properties.
But it meant some solicitors had advised clients they were no longer eligible for the State Government’s stamp duty rebate because the unit was no longer “their” principal of residence, meaning that they missed out on thousands of dollars.
"The solicitors’ advice was quite proper but it was somewhat of a grey area. There was ambiguity in the law that allowed solicitors to interpret it in a number of ways,” Ms Bligh said.
“In some cases people were the only ones in their retirement village to have missed out.”
Ms Bligh said the Government would start advertisements this weekend, asking people who had missed out on the stamp duty rebate to contact the Government so a refund could be arranged. The change will be retrospective for five years.
"It was always the Government's intention that if a person occupying their unit as their principal place of residence meets all the usual conditions of the concession, they will be able to claim the rebate,” she said.
"Residents in these cases should not be financially disadvantaged simply because arrangements of the retirement village operator over which they have little control."
Ms Bligh said the difference in duty payments on an average retirement village property was about $4000 but it varied according to purchase price.
The Office of State Revenue will write to the operators of all registered retirement villages in Queensland and to all registered self-assessors to notify them of the change and to advise of the requirements to obtain a refund. The retirement village operators and self-assessors will then be able to identify any affected persons and notify them of the requirements.
Retirement village residents who became liable for transfer duty at the higher rate within that time may be entitled to a partial refund of the duty and should contact their professional adviser or the Office of State Revenue on 1300 300 734. Information will be posted on the Office of State Revenue website (www.osr.treasury.gov.au).
More information: Deputy Premier's Office 3224 6900