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Duty
Duty (referred to in some states as “stamp duty”) is covered by state legislation. Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory still impose duty on sales of businesses. In all other states, sales of businesses are exempt from duty, unless the sale includes a transfer of real property or other dutiable property.
As a business is a collection of different assets and rights, duty is imposed on defined business assets. These are different in different states. Duty on sales of shares has been abolished throughout Australia.
Some assets comprised in a sale of business attract duty anyway, such as goods that are dutiable under the general provisions, sales of real property or transfers of shares in land-rich companies or unit trusts. For example, in Victoria, duty may be imposed where the shares being transferred have a land use entitlement (or an entitlement to occupy land in Victoria): ss 10(1)(v) and 103A of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic).
See Duty.
