Insurance

Description

Duty is payable on the amount of premium paid in relation to a contract for general or life insurance.  Normally this duty is paid by policyholders to insurance companies.  Insurance companies then submit returns and payments on or before the 21st of each month to the Revenue Office.

Amateur sporting and community not-for-profit bodies may be exempt from duty on public liability insurance and other prescribed general insurance required to hold a public event.  Organisations must apply to the ACT Commissioner for Revenue to determine eligibility for exemption.  Further details are provided in the Duty Exemption Guidelines. 

Duty amount

The amount of duty payable will depend on the type and value of insurance policy.  From 1 October 2012 the rates of insurance duty are as follows:

• Duty on general insurance contracts (including disablement or sickness policies) is calculated at the rate of 8% of the net premiums received.
• Duty on life insurance contracts (including term, temporary or insurance rider policies) is calculated at the rate of 4% of the first year's premium.
• Duty on all other life insurance contracts is 0.08% of the total sum insured where the sum insured is greater than $2,000, and $0.80 for each contract where the sum insured is $2,000 or less.

Further details are provided in the Online Return Form. 

Special application for refund of general insurance duty

Following a 2009 NSW Court decision, the ACT Revenue Office will refund duty paid on certain general insurance policies.  The special duty refund arrangement applies only where:

• the policy was provided by persons who were not registered or authorised insurers under the Duties Act 1999;  and
• the duty was paid during 1 March 1999 to 17 May 2006 as part of a general insurance premium.

To make an application for a refund of insurance duty use the Special Application Refund Form.

Relevant links

• Application for general and life insurance duty registration (external site)
• Duty Exemption Guidelines (external site)
• Online Return Form (external site)
• Special Application for the refund of ACT duty on insurance policies [RTF, 1.6Mb], [PDF, 53Kb] 

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Exchange of information

To assist in the identification and assessment of ACT taxes and grants we exchange information with other Revenue Offices and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). 

The exchange of information with other Revenue Offices is in accordance with part 9 of the Taxation Administration Act 1999 (ACT) and similar legislation in the States and the Northern Territory.  The exchange of information with the ATO is in accordance with subsection 355-65 (5) Schedule 1 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953 (Cth).