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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 13 Hansard (27 November) . . Page.. 4966 ..
(2) How much revenue has been raised from the removal of exemptions for these categories of property;
(3) Following the implementation of the new arrangements, how many requests have been made seeking relief from the impact of the new arrangements;
(4) Of any requests that have been made, have these requests been accepted as valid and, if so, what has been the outcome of these requests;
(5) Have any requests for relief been rejected. If so, on what basis were these requests rejected.
Mr Quinlan
: The answer to the member's question is as follows:(1) When the Revenue Legislation Amendment Act 2002 came into effect on 1 October 2002 and removed the land tax exemption for residential properties that were not rented and owned by a company or a trust, there were 2 183 residential properties that were owned by a company or a trust. Of these, 1 634 residential properties were previously rented and already subject to land tax. The remaining 549 residential properties previously not rented and owned by a company or a trust had their exemption removed and became liable to land tax.
(2) Given the ever changing ownership and rental status of residential properties, it is not possible to provide an exact revenue increase from this initiative. It is estimated that an additional $540 000 land tax revenue was collected in 2002-03 (1 October 2002 to 30 June 2003) from the 549 residential properties owned by companies or trusts that were previously not rented and became subject to land tax. Taking into account increases in the 2003 Average Unimproved Values of properties, it is estimated that an additional $850 000 land tax revenue will be collected from this initiative in 2003-04.
(3) Following representation from a number of affected residents seeking relief from the impact of the new land tax arrangements, I agreed on 13 November 2002 to a one off waiver of stamp duty to allow certain properties owned by a company or trust to be transferred to the beneficial owners in order for the property to remain exempt from land tax.
There were 40 residential properties where requests for the transfer of ownership to shareholders or beneficiaries were made to obtain relief from the new land tax initiative.
(4) There were 38 requests that were approved for a waiver of the stamp duty (or an Act of Grace payment where duty had already been paid) on the transfer of a residential property from the company or trust into the names of shareholders or beneficiaries.
Properties that were transferred under these circumstances were also refunded any land tax that had been imposed from the introduction of the new initiative on 1 October 2002.
(5) There were 2 requests for a waiver of duty that were not approved. One where the ownership was already in the individual's names and no transfer was necessary, and the second because the property was an investment property and was not the principal place of residence of the shareholders or beneficiaries.
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