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You must pay transfer duty on certain trust transactions affecting dutiable property in Queensland.
If you create or terminate a trust over dutiable property in Queensland or acquire or surrender an interest in a trust that holds dutiable property (directly or indirectly) in Queensland, you must pay transfer duty at current transfer duty rates.
A trust may take many forms. These include but are not limited to discretionary trusts, unit trusts, superannuation funds and public trusts.
Certain transactions may be exempt from duty.
A person can acquire a trust interest in a number of ways, including where on creation of the trust or being a beneficiary of a trust, the person’s trust interest increases, other than because of the surrender of another person’s trust interest in the trust for which transfer duty has been paid. There are special rules with respect to life interests.
A beneficiary’s trust interest is—in general—the percentage of the value of a beneficiary’s entitlement under the trust. There are special rules for discretionary trusts, and for trusts subject to prior life interests or contingencies.
The value of the beneficiary’s trust interest acquired or surrendered is worked out by applying the percentage of the trust interest to the unencumbered value of the dutiable property held by the trust and any indirect interest in dutiable property held by the relevant trust.
When determining the value of a beneficiary’s trust interest acquisition that is an increase in the beneficiary’s trust interest, the acquisition is taken to be the increase in the beneficiary’s trust interest.
See Chapter 2, Part 8 of the Duties Act 2001 for more information.
