Land Tax Act 1956

An Australian corporation is entitled to a refund of an amount of surcharge land tax paid by the corporation in relation to residential land owned by the corporation at midnight on 31 December in a year (the taxing date) during the relevant concession period if the Chief Commissioner is satisfied that—

a building that is taken to be a build-to-rent property under the Principal Act, section 9E or 9F has been constructed on the land by the corporation or a related body corporate, whether before or after the taxing date, and

the corporation is entitled under the relevant section of the Principal Act to a reduction in land value.

The amount of the refund to which an Australian corporation is entitled under this section is the amount that is determined in accordance with an order made by the Treasurer for the purposes of this section and published in the Gazette.

The amount of the refund may be the full amount of surcharge land tax paid or a lesser amount (as determined in accordance with the order).

The Chief Commissioner may approve a foreign person as an exempt person for particular land if the Chief Commissioner is of the opinion that the person is likely to become entitled under this section to a refund of the full amount of surcharge land tax payable by the person in respect of the land for a land tax year.

A foreign person is exempt from liability to pay surcharge land tax in respect of the particular land for a land tax year if the person is approved as an exempt person for the land for that land tax year.

The approval of a foreign person as an exempt person under this section is subject to the following provisions—

an approval may be given for one or more land tax years and can be given for a land tax year before or after the end of the land tax year,

an approval may be given subject to conditions and the approval operates subject to any such conditions,

the conditions of an approval may be varied by the Chief Commissioner at any time by notice to the person,

an approval can be revoked by the Chief Commissioner at any time by notice to the person,

the revocation of an approval can be backdated to extend to a tax year in respect of which the exemption conferred by the approval has already been applied, in which case surcharge land tax is payable and is to be assessed or reassessed as if the approval had never applied in respect of that tax year.

Without limiting subsection (6), if, within the period of 15 years after this section first applied in relation to surcharge land tax, the land concerned is subdivided or the ownership of the land is otherwise divided—

the person whose surcharge land tax has been refunded or liability to pay the surcharge land tax has been exempted in accordance with this section must, within 1 month, inform the Chief Commissioner of the date on which the land was subdivided or the ownership of the land was otherwise divided, and

liability for surcharge land tax in respect of the following years is to be reassessed as if this section had not applied to the person—

the year in which the land is subdivided or the ownership of the land is otherwise divided,

each preceding year in which a person’s liability to pay surcharge land tax was assessed in accordance with this section, but not more than 15 preceding years, and

the subdivision or division is taken to be a tax default for the purposes of Part 5 of the Taxation Administration Act 1996.

Surcharge land tax for a land tax year may be refunded under this section only if an application for the refund is made—

within 12 months after the owner of the land concerned became entitled to the refund, and

not later than 10 years after the land tax year concerned.

For the purposes of section 9(3)(c) of the Taxation Administration Act 1996, any reassessment under this section is authorised to be made more than 5 years after the initial assessment.

In this section—

if the corporation is entitled to the reduction in land value under the Principal Act, section 9E—the period commencing at midnight on 31 December 2020 and ending at midnight on 31 December 2039, or

if the corporation is entitled to the reduction in land value under the Principal Act, section 9F—the period commencing at midnight on 31 December 2020 and ending at midnight on 31 December in the year the corporation ceases to be eligible for the reduction in land value under that section.