Legal Insights

Property Tax Jemimah Fitzgerald Property Tax Jemimah Fitzgerald

Property nominations and duty: VCAT confirms the position

A recent VCAT decision has reinforced the potential duty consequences of nominating a substitute purchaser under a contract of sale.

In Ramaihi v Commissioner of State Revenue [2026] VCAT 655, VCAT considered the application of the sub-sale provisions in the Duties Act 2000 (Vic), including when a nomination may confer a “transfer right” and the circumstances in which additional duty may arise.

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Property Tax, Business Structuring, Tax Joseph Flanagan Property Tax, Business Structuring, Tax Joseph Flanagan

Acquisition of control over private landholders and the Duties Act -Tao v Commissioner of State Revenue [2025] VSC 831

In January, the Supreme Court of Victoria handed down judgment against an applicant who had become the sole director of a company acting as trustee of a unit trust which held property in Victoria valued over $1 million. The Supreme Court confirmed the Commissioner of State Revenue’s assessment that the applicant acquired ‘control’ over the landholder and made a relevant acquisition for the purposes of the Duties Act. It was held the applicant made a relevant acquisition in the landholder of 100%.

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