From 1 July 2012, the principal place of residence concession will be re-introduced and the applicable concession rates will be those which were in place prior to the 1 August 2011 amendments.
There have also been amendments to the first home owner concession. For contracts entered into after 1 July 2012, there will be no stamp duty payable by parties who satisfy the first home concession criteria on purchases of their first homes which are up to a value of $500,000.00, however for purchases over $500,000.00, the concession amounts available to eligible parties are reduced on a sliding scale on purchase prices of up to $600,000.00, with no concession for properties purchased for $600,000.00 or above. For example, if a property was purchased for between $510,000 – $519,000.00 by parties who qualify for the concession, the concession amount available would be approximately $13,925.00. However, if the purchase price was between $550,000 – $559,000.00 the amount would drop by $6,375.00, and the available concession would be only $7,550.00. Properties purchased from $600,000.00 or over do not receive any stamp duty concession.
Provisions have been drafted in s269 of the amending Bill which encapsulates any agreements entered into before 1 July 2012 purporting to take advantage of the home concession, and these anti-avoidance provisions ensure that stamp duty on those agreements will be calculated at the applicable rate prior to 1 July 2012.
