Page 2597 - Week 08 - Thursday, 24 August 2006
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multiple visits to the ACT Revenue Office. It is envisaged that the new service will be used by solicitors and other professionals involved in multiple transactions on behalf of their clients, and approved persons will be able to process transactions and make payments outside normal business hours.
Other jurisdictions utilise various online or electronic service models to improve services. The online lodgment and payment service currently being developed by the ACT Revenue Office offers the ACT the opportunity to lead the way in the electronic authorisation of documents, with all duty transaction data being stored electronically and no requirements to lodge paperwork with the commissioner. The ACT online lodgment and payment service is also unique in that payment will be required for each transaction before it can proceed.
The new service is being developed after consultation with existing clients and with the cooperation of InTACT, the Land Titles Office and the ACT Planning and Land Authority. The electronic system will have the capacity to share data with key ACT government stakeholders. Although not initially available, there will be scope in the future to allow approved persons to pay some associated Land Titles Office fees online. Security procedures and protocols for the system and for client data and bank details are currently being developed. Privacy will be a paramount consideration to ensure all client data is secure.
Initially, the simpler, more common transactions will be processed and duty paid for online. These are the low risk, high volume transactions and they represent about 50 per cent of the duty transactions currently processed by the revenue office. They are residential conveyances, the grant of residential crown leases, declarations of trust over non-dutiable property, deeds that establish superannuation funds, and certain commercial leases. As the new electronic service is finetuned and both revenue office staff and clients become more familiar with the operations of the system, other transactions will be added to the service.
This bill makes amendments to current ACT legislation to allow for the electronic lodgment and stamping of duty transactions online. Before being able to access the system, clients will be required to be approved by the Commissioner for ACT Revenue and to provide details of a cleared funds bank account to enable the revenue office to debit the nominated financial institution account for each and every transaction. An online training component has been incorporated into the system which will guide clients through the processes.
The approval process will provide flexibility for both clients and the revenue office. The proposed Duties Act provisions will allow for the approval to be conditional. The conditions will be stated in each approval and will control the types of transactions available to each client and how payment must be made. Other conditions may be imposed as required and each approval can be amended by the commissioner to allow for changes without the client having to seek approval again. The approval can also be suspended or cancelled by the commissioner.
The Duties Act currently requires all documents to be lodged with the revenue office and to be physically stamped with a dye or device approved by the commissioner. The introduction of electronic processing, such as the online lodgment and payment service,
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