At Access Canberra, you (or your agent) will be responsible for registering the transfer of a property as usual.
The transfer instrument and the corresponding Buyer Verification Declaration (which collects the required ID data) will contain the necessary information to create a Notice of Assessment for duty purposes.
If you’re not using a solicitor or agent, you will also receive the benefits of the Barrier Free model and you’ll be able to complete the forms yourself.
Under the Barrier Free model stamping requirements have been abolished. As duty will be payable after title registration you will not have to get your documents stamped for settlement to occur.
Access Canberra are authorised to collect information under the land titles legislation on behalf of ACT Revenue. This information is protected by the Information Privacy Act 2014 and the confidentiality provisions under the Taxation Administration Act 1999.
Failure to lodge your title at Access Canberra in the 14-day period after settlement may result in penalties being applied.
The 14 day lodgement requirement recognises that it is in the interests of all parties to have a change in title registered as soon as possible after settlement. The 14 day lodgement is a legislative requirement that will be monitored by the Revenue Office. Following a reasonable settling in period after the introduction of Barrier Free, the Revenue Office will review lodgement performance against this requirement. If the 14 day late lodgement period is being consistently breached, the Revenue Office will begin to apply penalty tax.
Holders of unregistered title may be exposed to financial risk as the legal title to the property would be recorded in the previous owner’s name. It is in everyone’s interest to register a change of title promptly.
Under the Barrier Free model duty is not paid before settlement – therefore, contracts for sale that are rescinded do not give rise to refunds of duty.
If your agreement is cancelled and does not give effect to a subsale, no further action is required and you do not have to lodge the contract with us.
If you cancel your agreement and a subsale occurs, you must lodge the contract directly to the ACT Revenue Office, within 14 days of the cancellation date, and pay duty on that transaction.