Duties update: Purchasing land in NSW for $20 million or more – Revenue NSW’s updated assessment process

Revenue NSW is introducing a new duty assessment process for transactions with a dutiable value of $20 million or more, which may affect timeframes for purchasers to receive their duty assessment from Revenue NSW.

What is changing?

Revenue NSW is transitioning its assessment process for transactions involving agreements or contracts for the sale of land with a dutiable value of $20 million or more. These transactions will need to be lodged for assessment by Revenue NSW via the eDuties portal instead of the current process through the Electronic Duties Returns (EDR) portal. For such assessment, the dutiable value is the greater of:

• the consideration (normally the purchase price) paid for the property; and
• the unencumbered value (market value) of the property.

When is this happening?

From 19 September 2024, a transitional period applies during which transactions can be submitted for assessment via either the eDuties portal or lodged via the EDR portal. From 8 October 2024, lodgement via the eDuties portal will be compulsory. This updated requirement is based on the date of lodgement not the date of the agreement/contract for sale and relates to both residential and non-residential property. Revenue NSW is introducing this change to ensure high value transactions are assessed correctly and all evidentiary requirements are provided. Exemptions and concessions will not be affected, and there will be no change in the lodgement process for these transactions.

What does this mean?

Parties should be aware of these procedural requirements when preparing contracts for sale and negotiating settlement dates, as the updated Revenue NSW process may impact transactions where the parties are seeking short timeframes between exchange and settlement.

Contracts for sale of land with a purchase price of $20 million or more should take into account the additional assessment time required for matters lodged via the eDuties portal and, where possible, be documented in a manner that sets the settlement date for an agreed period after the duty assessment has been completed by Revenue NSW.

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Authored by: 
Sally Tuckfield, Partner
Janine Santamaria, Senior Associate