1 January 2012 - 30 June 2012

Pensioner duty concession

Description

The Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme (PDCS) is to assist eligible pensioners to move to accommodation more suited to their needs (e.g. from a house to a townhouse) but who may find the duty involved to be a significant impediment.  Such persons are assisted to purchase a residential home or residential vacant land by paying duty at a concessional rate.

The lodgment for duty of interdependent land and building contracts will continue to be assessed as off the plan agreements.  For further information see Off the plan agreements, assessment of duty [RTF, 1.4Mb], [PDF, 20 Kb]. 

The PDCS applies to property where the transaction date, which is the date of grant, transfer, or agreement for transfer (whichever is first) occurs between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2012.  This is the date of first execution of an agreement or transfer, not the settlement date.  For further details see:

• Determination of property value thresholds - DI2011-313 (external site)
• Determination of definitions - DI2011-312 (external site) 

The scheme has been extended to contracts entered into by 30 June 2012.

A successful application under this scheme must comply with the following criteria:

• the PDCS application must be lodged within the required time;
• applicants must satisfy a current and previous property ownership test;
• the total value of the property must be less than the upper property value threshold amount;  and
• applicants must satisfy residency requirements. 

Limited time to lodge an application

The application period is limited.  All applications must be received by the Commissioner for ACT Revenue at the ACT Revenue Office by the date the duty must be paid, that is within:

• 90 days of the grant, transfer or agreement (whichever is first);  or
• 14 days of the occurrence of one of the events mentioned in Section 16A (1) of the Duties Act 1999, for an Off the Plan agreement.  

To enable applications to be processed efficiently, all documents must be lodged with the Commissioner for ACT Revenue at the ACT Revenue Office at least 10 working days before approval is required.  Incomplete applications may be returned to you.  All applications accepted over the counter or mailed are subject to the same application time limits.

A late return (application) will only be considered if an applicant can show that it was unduly onerous to lodge it within the statutory or required application period.  The Commissioner's discretion will only be exercised where the applicant can provide sufficient documentary evidence of the delay, and the applicant and the property are otherwise eligible for the scheme.

Information on circumstances that may be considered to be unduly onerous by the Commissioner for ACT Revenue, and those that will not be considered unduly onerous are detailed in Circular DAA012.1 [RTF, 179Kb], [PDF, 91Kb]. 

Application processing time

The current standard for processing applications is 10 working days from the provision of all required documentation.  If you lodge an application, please wait 10 working days before checking on the status of your application.  

Eligible pensioner

At the date of the transaction, an eligible pensioner is a person in receipt of:

• an Australian age pension (Centrelink or Department of Veterans’ Affairs equivalent) and who holds a pensioner concession card;  or
• a disability support pension and is 50 years of age or more and who holds a pensioner concession card;  or
• a Department of Veterans’ Affairs Gold Card for one year prior to the transaction.

Other eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the PDCS, ownership of the property being purchased must be in the same name or names as the property being sold.  An applicant is also limited to receiving the PDCS no more than once.  If any applicant has received this concession previously he or she cannot receive it again.

Current property ownership

Applicants for the concession must own an Australian residence from which they intend to move.  The existing residence must be sold within 1 year of completion of the transfer of the eligible property or the date of the certificate of occupancy following completion of construction of a residence on an eligible vacant block (or a longer period approved by the Commissioner for ACT Revenue).

Applicants (and their domestic partners) must not hold an interest in any other land except the eligible property and the property from which they are moving.  Where an eligible pensioner sells their residence prior to the purchase of their new home, that sale must have occurred no more than one year before the date of the grant, transfer or agreement to transfer the new property, to be considered eligible for the duty concession on their new home.

Property value threshold amount

The upper and lower value thresholds (from which the concessional rate of duty is calculated) for a residential home (eligible property) and residential land (eligible vacant block) are updated every six months (usually 1 January and 1 July) to ensure that they remain current.

Eligible property (residential home)

Eligible vacant block (land)

Residency requirements

At least one applicant must occupy the home for a continuous period of at least six months, beginning within 1 year of settlement or completion of construction.

The Commissioner for ACT Revenue may extend the time for an applicant to meet the residency requirements, approve a shorter residency period, or exempt an applicant from the residency requirements.  The Commissioner’s discretion is:

• limited to situations where the applicant is unable to reside in the property because of a compulsory or unforeseen circumstance (e.g. health related issues);  and
• exercisable only where a written request to exercise the power is lodged with the Commissioner within 18 months of -
• • in relation to an eligible property - the date of the completion of the transfer of the subject property; or
  • in relation to an eligible vacant block - the date of the certificate of occupancy following completion of construction of the residence on the subject property.

Making an application

For transactions between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2012 use the Pensioner Duty Concession Scheme Application Form [RTF, 289Kb], [PDF, 135Kb]. 

Information about the eligibility criteria applicable to grants, transfers or agreements for other time periods is available at Pensioner duty concession.

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