Partitions of land

When two or more people hold property in the ACT and they split that property between them, anyone who ends up with a higher percentage of the property than they originally owned pays duty on the increase.

If you divide the property and everyone ends up with the same percentage of the property they had before – with no increase – no one has to pay duty.

You can’t partition land that you don’t hold jointly.

Dutiable value of a partition

The dutiable value of a partition  is the greater of:

• the amount by which the value of the property you transfer to someone exceeds the value of the property that person owned immediately before you partitioned the property; or
• the sum of any amount that any of the property owners paid for the partition.

Paying duty

Within 90 days of the transaction date, you need to lodge the transaction via SmartForm to the ACT Revenue Office. You need to attach the following required documentation to the SmartForm:

• the executed transfer instrument
• valuations for each property that’s part of the partitioning
• a copy of the agreement for partition (the deed of partition or other document).

Be sure that all of the details in your documentation are true and correct; giving false or misleading information is a serious offence.

After you submit the SmartForm and the transfer is registered with the Land Titles Office, we will email a Notice of Assessment to you and your legal representative (if applicable). You have 14 days after receiving the Notice of Assessment to pay.

If the Notice of Assessment has a nil balance, you do not have to take further action.

The transaction date is the date of grant, transfer, or agreement for transfer (whichever is first – not the settlement date).

Visit our How to pay page for more information on paying your duty.