Calculating landholder duty
Landholder (stamp) duty is calculated differently for private and public landholders.
Private landholders
For private landholders, the transfer duty rate applies to the dutiable value of the relevant acquisition.
A private company has land-holdings in Queensland with an unencumbered value of $2.8 million. Cyril acquires 60% of the shares in the private company.
Cyril has made a relevant acquisition in a private landholder.
The dutiable value is 60% of the unencumbered value of the land-holdings in Queensland.
The dutiable value of the relevant acquisition is $1.68 million (60% × $2.8 million).
Excluded interests in private landholders
An excluded interest in a private landholder is any interest constituting the relevant acquisition that was one of the following:
- held by you or a related person for more than 3 years before the relevant acquisition. This is unless the existing interest was acquired as part of an arrangement that included the interest most recently acquired
- acquired at a time when the landholder did not hold land in Queensland
- acquired before 1 July 2011, if at the time the corporation was not a land rich corporation under the previous land rich duty provisions.
If you have an excluded interest, it is deducted from your interest in the landholder when calculating the dutiable value of the relevant acquisition.
Cyril acquired 40% of the shares in a private company 4 years before acquiring a further 20% in an unrelated transaction. The acquisition of the 20% gives him an interest of 60% in the private company, and is a relevant acquisition.
Because the 40% was acquired more than 3 years before the relevant acquisition in an unrelated transaction, it’s an excluded interest.
The dutiable value of the relevant acquisition would be calculated on 20% (60% − 40%) of the unencumbered value of the land-holdings in Queensland.
The dutiable value of the relevant acquisition is $560,000 (20% × $2.8 million).
Public landholders
For public landholders, landholder duty is calculated as 10% of the transfer duty that would be imposed if there was a transfer of all of the Queensland land-holdings of the landholder at the date of the relevant acquisition.
In most cases, no further landholder duty is charged if your interest subsequently increases.
A public landholder has Queensland land-holdings with an unencumbered value of $10 million. BigCo Pty Ltd acquires 95% of the shares in the public landholder on 24 September 2012. BigCo has made a relevant acquisition in a public landholder.
The landholder duty is 10% of the amount of transfer duty on $10 million (10% × $555,525 = $55,552.50).
Excluded interests in public landholders
If you have an excluded interest, the dutiable value is calculated by deducting the value of the land-holdings representing your excluded interest from the total unencumbered value of all of the Queensland land-holdings.
An excluded interest in a public landholder is an interest acquired either:
- at a time when the landholder did not hold land in Queensland
- before 1 July 2011.
A public landholder has Queensland land-holdings with an unencumbered value of $100 million.
BigCo Pty Ltd holds 30% of the shares in the public landholder. BigCo acquired its 30% in 2 separate acquisitions, both of which took place before 1 July 2011.
In July 2014, BigCo Pty Ltd acquires the remaining 70% of shares in the public landholder under an off-market takeover. The acquisition of the 70% results in a total interest of 100% in the public landholder, and is a relevant acquisition. Because the 30% interest was acquired before 1 July 2011, it is an excluded interest.
The dutiable value of the relevant acquisition is calculated on 70% (100% − 30%) of the unencumbered value of the land-holdings in Queensland (70% × 100 million = $70 million).
Landholder duty is 10% of the amount of transfer duty on $70 million (10% × $4,005,525 = $400,552.50).
Also consider…
- Read about lodging relevant acquisitions for assessment.
- Learn about exemptions from landholder duty.
- Understand how AFAD applies to landholder duty.
- Use the transfer duty calculator to help you determine the amount of duty you will pay.
- Read the landholder duty provisions in Chapter 3 of the Duties Act 2001.
- Find out about your payment options.
- Learn about unpaid tax interest and penalty tax.
- See previous transfer duty rates.