Part 1The Chief Commissioner may provide stamps or such other equipment as may be required for:(a) stamping instruments, or(b) otherwise denoting the payment of duty,in accordance with the provisions of this Act.
286 Limitation on use of designated stamps
(1) A stamp that by its terms is limited to an instrument of a specified kind must not be used for an instrument of a different kind.Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.
(2) An instrument of a specified kind for which a particular stamp is specified is taken not to be duly stamped unless it is stamped with the stamp so specified.
(1) An instrument that is required to be stamped by this Act is to be stamped by means of an impressed stamp.(2) However, another form of stamping may be used if its use is authorised by this Act or the Chief Commissioner.(3) Without limiting subsection (2), the Chief Commissioner may approve arrangements for the stamping of an instrument by means of the endorsement on the instrument of a number, or other information, issued by the Chief Commissioner in respect of the instrument (as referred to in section 289A).
The Chief Commissioner must stamp an instrument in respect of which duty is chargeable under this Act, or that effects or evidences a dutiable transaction, and that has been lodged for stamping with the Chief Commissioner if the duty, and any interest or penalty tax under Part 5 of the Taxation Administration Act 1996, is paid in full.
289 When is an instrument duly stamped?
An instrument is duly stamped if it is stamped in accordance with this Act.
289A Stamping by means of endorsement
(1) An instrument is duly stamped if it is endorsed in accordance with an arrangement, approved by the Chief Commissioner under Division 2 of Part 6 of the Taxation Administration Act 1996, under which:(a) information concerning an instrument (rather than the instrument itself) is lodged with the Chief Commissioner, and(b) the information is used by the Chief Commissioner to assess the duty payable on the instrument, and(c) a number, or other information, is issued by the Chief Commissioner, in respect of the instrument, for endorsement on the instrument.(2) Section 297 applies in respect of an instrument endorsed in accordance with an arrangement referred to in this section as if the instrument had been stamped by the Chief Commissioner, and section 42 (3) of the Taxation Administration Act 1996 does not apply.(3) However, the endorsement of an instrument in accordance with an arrangement referred to in this section does not affect any liability for payment of the duty in relation to the instrument under this Act.(4) A notice of assessment or statement of confirmation issued by the Chief Commissioner in relation to the assessment of an instrument as referred to in this section may include any of the information provided to the Chief Commissioner on which the assessment of the instrument was based.
293 Reassessments—failed instruments
(1) An instrument that fails in its intended operation and becomes useless is not chargeable with duty under this Act.(2) The Chief Commissioner must make a reassessment of duty in respect of such an instrument if an application for a reassessment is made within:(a) 5 years after the initial assessment, or(b) 12 months after the instrument has failed,whichever is the later.(3) The instrument in respect of which the application is made must be produced to the Chief Commissioner unless the Chief Commissioner dispenses with its production.(4) This section does not apply in respect of an instrument that effects a transfer of dutiable property.Note. See Part 5 of Chapter 2 for refunds of duty under Chapter 2 on failed instruments.
294 Instruments to be separately charged with duty in certain cases
An instrument that contains or relates to several distinct matters for which different duties are chargeable under this Act is to be separately and distinctly charged with duty in respect of each such matter, as if each matter were expressed in a separate instrument.
(1) For the purposes of this Act, an instrument is taken to be first executed the first time that it is signed and sealed, or signed (as the case may be) by any party to it.(2) However, a contract made by acceptance of an offer contained in an instrument is taken to be first executed when the offer is accepted.(3) If an instrument is ineffective by reason of a failure of the necessary parties to execute it, a refund may be made of any money paid for stamping.
296 Stamping of instruments after execution
(1) Except where otherwise expressly provided by this or another Act, a person liable with respect to any instrument chargeable with duty or any dutiable transaction must cause the instrument, or an instrument that effects or evidences the transaction, to be duly stamped or, in accordance with the provisions of this Act marked “interim stamp only” within 6 months after it was first executed.Maximum penalty: 100 penalty units.
(2) For the purposes of this section, a written statement that is required to be stamped is taken to be first executed when the transaction to which the statement relates occurs.
297 Stamping taken to constitute assessment
(1) For the purposes of the Taxation Administration Act 1996, the stamping of an instrument by the Chief Commissioner is taken to constitute an assessment of the duty payable under this Act in respect of the instrument or the dutiable transaction effected or evidenced by that instrument.(2) If the Chief Commissioner does not issue a notice of assessment at the time that the instrument is stamped, the stamped instrument is taken, for the purposes of the Taxation Administration Act 1996, to be a notice of assessment.Note. The Taxation Administration Act 1996 provides that an objection to an assessment must be lodged within 60 days of service of the notice of assessment (unless late lodgment is permitted by the Chief Commissioner).
298 Deferred payments for certain stamped instruments
(1) The Minister may:(a) in circumstances in which (in the course of an industrial dispute involving persons engaged in the administration of this Act) an instrument liable to duty is not stamped by reason of the refusal of those persons to exercise functions relating to the administration of this Act or of any other law, and(b) in such other circumstances as the regulations may prescribe,authorise the stamping of instruments on which duty is payable, even though the duty has not yet been paid, if an undertaking, in an approved form, has been given by a prescribed person, or a person belonging to a prescribed class of persons, as to the payment of duty in respect of the instrument.(2) The Minister’s authorisation must provide for the manner in which, and the time within which, unpaid duty is to be paid in respect of instruments stamped under the authorisation.(3) An instrument that has been stamped under the Minister’s authorisation is, except for the purposes of the recovery of any unpaid duty (including any interest or penalty with which the instrument is charged under the Taxation Administration Act 1996) in respect of the instrument, taken to be duly stamped.(4) If the duty payable in respect of an instrument that has been stamped under the Minister’s authorisation is not paid in accordance with the terms of the authorisation, the Taxation Administration Act 1996 applies to the payment of that duty in the same manner as if the instrument had not been so stamped.(5) For the purposes of subsection (1), the following persons are prescribed persons:(a) a person who is liable to pay duty in respect of an instrument,(b) a person who is authorised (whether by a person who is liable to pay duty in respect of an instrument or by another person) to arrange for the stamping of the instrument on behalf of a person who is liable.
(1) A copy of an original instrument is chargeable with duty as if it had been executed in the same way as the original instrument and had been first executed at the same time as the original instrument unless the Chief Commissioner is satisfied:(a) that the original instrument has been duly stamped, or(b) that a copy of the original instrument has been duly stamped in accordance with this section.(2) If a copy of an original instrument is duly stamped in accordance with this section, the original instrument is taken to be duly stamped.(3) In this section:copy of an original instrument means an unexecuted instrument in which, in the Chief Commissioner’s opinion, the matter contained in the original instrument is wholly or substantially reproduced, whether or not the matter reproduced has the same appearance as the matter contained in the original instrument, but does not include a replica within the meaning of section 272.
original instrument means an instrument that is chargeable with duty otherwise than under this section.
(1) This section applies to the calculation of a period of time for the purpose of determining when the payment of duty is due under this Act.(2) A month is taken to be a period commencing at the beginning of a day of one of the 12 named months (within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1987) and ending:(a) at the end of the corresponding day of the next named month, or(b) if there is no such corresponding day, at the end of the next named month.(3) A period of 2 or more months is taken to be a period commencing at the beginning of a day of one of the 12 named months (within the meaning of the Interpretation Act 1987) and ending:(a) at the end of the corresponding day of the last named month within the period, or(b) if there is no such corresponding day, at the end of that named month.(4) Section 36 (except subsection (1)) of the Interpretation Act 1987 applies to the calculation of a period of time to which this section applies.