Stamp Duties Act 1923

A life insurer who is, or is required to be, registered is liable under this section to pay duty in respect of each premium relating to life insurance paid to the insurer and must, for that purpose, on or before

lodge with the Commissioner a statement in the approved form setting out the total amount of—

all such premiums received by the insurer in the preceding calendar year; and

any such premiums credited to an account of the insurer (but not received by the insurer) in the previous calendar year that the insurer chooses to include; and

pay to the Commissioner duty equivalent to 1.5% of that amount.

If a premium that is credited to an account of the insurer but not actually received by the insurer is included in the statement lodged under subsection (1) for the year in which the premium is credited, the insurer need not include the premium in the statement lodged for the year in which the premium is received by the insurer.

Subject to subsection (4), if—

a premium that is credited to an account of the insurer but not received by the insurer is not included in the statement lodged under subsection (1) for the year in which the premium is credited; and

the premium is not received by the insurer in the following calendar year, the premium will be taken, for the purposes of this section, to have been received by the insurer in that following calendar year and is therefore to be included in the statement for that year.

Subsection (3) does not apply in relation to a premium that is not received by the insurer because the policy in relation to which the premium was credited is cancelled.

For the purposes of subsection (1)—

a reference to a premium—

does not include an amount in respect of stamp duty received or charged in respect of a premium; and

is a reference to a net premium, and any commission or discount is not to be taken into account; and

the amount of a premium paid for life insurance in respect of a person whose principal place of residence was not in the State at the time the policy providing the insurance was issued is not to be taken into account;

the amount of a premium refunded during the year to which the statement relates (whether the premium was received during that year or earlier) is not to be taken into account; and

an amount that is paid from an account established for investment to an account established for insurance of a risk under a policy providing life insurance will be taken to be a premium received under that policy for insurance of that risk.

To avoid doubt, the duty payable under subsection (1) is payable in respect of a premium relating to life insurance, irrespective of whether the premium is payable under a policy in relation to which premiums are also payable for insurance that is not life insurance.