Legal Insights

Sky High Land Tax: How Nominating a Purchaser May Trigger Additional Duty
Property Tax, Tax, Corporations Jemimah Fitzgerald Property Tax, Tax, Corporations Jemimah Fitzgerald

Sky High Land Tax: How Nominating a Purchaser May Trigger Additional Duty

In Sky Jade Corporation Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue (Vic) [2026] VCAT 421, the Victorian Civil and Administrate Tribunal confirmed that nominating a purchaser under a standard contract of sale of land will trigger additional duty if land development occurs prior to settlement. The Tribunal also confirmed that a nominee, nominated pursuant to a sale of real estate nomination form, will be considered to have obtained a right to have property transferred to the nominee, satisfying the legislative requirements for additional duty.

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Acquisition of control over private landholders and the Duties Act -Tao v Commissioner of State Revenue [2025] VSC 831
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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Oliver Hume Decision: Victorian Landholders Duty Applies on Capital Raising based on “substantially one arrangement”
Property Tax, Property & Financial, Property Development, Tax, Trusts Alasdair Woodford Property Tax, Property & Financial, Property Development, Tax, Trusts Alasdair Woodford

Oliver Hume Decision: Victorian Landholders Duty Applies on Capital Raising based on “substantially one arrangement”

The Victorian Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Oliver Hume Property Funds (Broad Gully Rd) Diamond Creek Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2024] VSCA 175 has settled that, in Victoria, aggregation applies to the acquisition of shares or units by investors, even in circumstances where the investors are unrelated under the one syndication or capital raising process.

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