The NSW Parliament just passed significant changes to state taxation, which are commenced on 20 May 2022. The amendments include:
- Expanding the concept of "declaration" of trust to "acknowledgement" of trust, thereby potentially capturing a wider class of transactions
- Expanding the breadth of transfer duty to mere changes in "beneficial ownership"
- Expanding the reach of the general anti-avoidance provisions
- Providing a refund of surcharge purchaser duty for Australian-based developers
- Increasing penalty tax for significant global entities (SGEs)
- Introducing promoter penalty regime which could affect tax advisers
The amendments comprise significant changes to the risk profile of certain transactions in NSW for taxpayers and advisers alike.