2010 announcements

OSRconnect will not be available from 6am to 12pm on Sunday 24 January due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

On 14 January 2010 the Treasurer, Andrew Fraser, announced changes to the Duties Act 2001. This was to ensure that the insurance duty provisions apply to insurance (where it relates to Queensland property, an insurable risk or event that may occur in Queensland or life insurance taken out by a Queensland resident) taken out with the following insurers who are not required to, and have not been, registered or authorised under Commonwealth legislation:

• overseas insurers
• non-commercial captive insurers
• other insurers.

The following Public Rulings have been updated to reflect the introduction of the first home owner grant cap from 1 January 2010.

FHOGA000.1.2—Meaning of ‘home’ and ‘residential property’ (Supersedes FHOGA000.1.1)

FHOGA005.2.2—Eligible transactions under the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000—oral contracts (Supersedes FHOGA005.2.1)

FHOGA006.1.3—Conversion of non-residential premises to a home (Supersedes FHOGA006.1.2)

FHOGA008.2.2—Rental purchase agreements (Supersedes FHOGA008.2.1)

From 1 January 2010, a $1,000,000 cap applies to all first home owner grant applications. If you execute a contract on or after this date for a property worth $1,000,000 or more, you will not be eligible for the grant.

OSRconnect will not be available from 11:30pm to 12:30am on Thursday 25 February due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

OSRconnect will not be available from 11:30pm to 12:30am on Monday 22 February and Tuesday 23 February due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

OSRconnect will not be available from 8am to 12pm on Sunday 21 February due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Public Ruling DA000.8.1—Mergers, acquisitions and transfers of assets of financial institutions has been released. It outlines the administrative arrangement that provides ex gratia relief from transfer duty on certain dutiable transactions arising from mergers, acquisitions and transfers of assets of financial institutions, subject to certain conditions. 

The Revenue Legislation Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 2010 (the Regulation) was gazetted on 12 February 2010.  The Regulation amends the:

• Duties Regulation 2002—allows for consistent apportionment of insurance premiums between the states as agreed to by all relevant jurisdictions
• First Home Owner Grant Regulation 2000—extends the eligibility for the first home owner grant to certain residential leases granted under the Aboriginal Land Act 1991 and the Torres Strait Islander Land Act 1991. Eligibility is also extended to owner-builders where the home is built on a relative’s land under a right given to the owner-builder by the relative
• Taxation Administration Regulation 2002—lists the repealed Pay-roll Tax Act 1971 (NSW) and repealed Pay-roll Tax Act 1971 (VIC) as recognised laws.

Click the above link to view the Regulation on the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel website.

Due to scheduled system maintenance, OSRconnect will be unavailable between 7:00pm and 7:30pm tonight, 11 February.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

The following Public Rulings have been released. These Public Rulings replace Revenue Rulings or Practice Directions that were in effect immediately before the Public Ruling system commenced on 24 February 2009.

DA000.7.1—Transfer duty relief on acquisitions of rural properties for farm rationalisation purposes (Replaces Practice Direction DA 31.1)

DA113.1.1—Concessions for particular investment purposes (Replaces Revenue Ruling DA 15.1)

DA390.1.1—Reassessment of vehicle registration duty—non-complying use by primary producer (Replaces Revenue Ruling DA 4.1)

The following Public Rulings have been updated to reflect the reduction in the first home owner grant cap for eligible transactions from $1 million to $750,000. The reduced cap takes effect from 31 March 2010.

FHOGA000.1.3—Meaning of ‘home’ and ‘residential property’ (Supersedes FHOGA000.1.2)

FHOGA005.2.3—Eligible transactions under the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000—oral contracts (Supersedes FHOGA005.2.2)

FHOGA006.1.4—Conversion of non-residential premises to a home (Supersedes FHOGA006.1.3)

FHOGA008.2.3—Rental purchase agreements (Supersedes FHOGA008.2.2)

OSRconnect will not be available from 8am to 12pm on Sunday 28 March due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Legislation introduced into Parliament on 9 March 2010 proposes to lower the current cap of $1 million to $750,000 on all first home owner grant applications. The reduced amount will apply to all contracts entered into on or after 31 March 2010.

After the law is passed, you will not be able to claim the grant if:

• you enter into a contract on or after 31 March 2010
  
  and
  
  
• your property is worth $750,000 or more.

OSRconnect will not be available from 6:00am to 12:00pm on Sunday 14 March due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

OSRconnect will not be available from 9pm to 11pm on Thursday 11 March due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

OSRconnect will not be available from 8am to 12pm on Sunday 25 April due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

The following Public Rulings have been updated as a consequence of the Revenue and Other Legislation Act 2010.

DA000.5.2—Securities quoted on the market operated by a recognised stock exchange—stapled securities 

DA085.1.3—Concession for homes and first homes—occupancy requirements 

DA086A.1.2—Inclusion of chattels in the acquisition of a home or first home 

DA087.1.2—Concession for homes and first homes—residential purposes 

DA117.1.2—Transfer duty—change of trustee—administrative arrangement 

DA151.1.2—Transfers or agreements by way of gift of residential land within a marriage or de facto relationship 

DA158.1.2—Land rich duty—acquisitions of interests in a corporation previously listed on a recognised stock exchange 

DA353.1.2—Insurance duty on contracts of general insurance subject to GST 

DA427.1.2—Transfer duty relief—incorporation of certain associations 

DA498A.1.2—Securities quoted on the market operated by a recognised stock exchange—securities suspended from quotation 

GEN008.4—Subpoenas, warrants and notices to produce directed to the Commissioner 

TAA060.3.3—Penalty tax—home concessions

A transaction cancellation form is now available for use when a transaction:

• has been created in draft in OSRconnect, but not submitted or paid
• is no longer needed (e.g. duplicate transaction, cancelled contract).

Simply fill out the form online and click submit to email it to us.

If you have any feedback about this form, please email client.support@osr.qld.gov.au.

OSRconnect will not be available during the following times due to scheduled system maintenance:

• 8.00 am to 10.00 pm on Saturday 17 April 2010
• 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday 18 April 2010.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

The Queensland Premier has announced a regional first home owner grant (regional grant).

More information about the regional grant will be available after the 2010–11 State Budget is released. 

We have developed a range of toolkits to help registered duties self assessors to confidently assess transactions.

Our toolkits have been designed to make your job easier. Each toolkit brings together everything that you need to know when assessing a particular transaction, including:

• eLearning tutorials
• approved forms
• Public Rulings
• interactive help
• links to legislation
• compliance information
• tips and traps.

You can even request training in a particular topic by clicking on the request training icon.

We welcome your feedback on our new initiative—let us know what you think by completing the feedback form (located at the bottom of each toolkit page).

OSRconnect will not be available from 8am to 2pm on Sunday 23 May due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Our new interactive tools can help you determine your payroll tax liabilities easily.

See payroll tax nexus provisions to work out the jurisdiction in which your wages will be taxed. You can also determine whether contractor provisions will apply to certain payments.

Please do not attempt to submit your annual payroll tax return until 1 July 2010.

You will receive an error message if you try to submit your return in OSRconnect before this date.

OSRconnect will not be available from 7am to 11am on Sunday 27 June due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

The Commonwealth Government has introduced a Paid Parental Leave scheme. Parents who have a baby or adopt a child on or after 1 January 2011 will be entitled to receive parental leave payments.

Under certain conditions, the Commonwealth Government will provide funds to employers who pay parental leave to their employees. These payments are not liable for payroll tax in Queensland.

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OSRconnect will not be available from 5:15pm to 6:30pm on Thursday 10 June due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

The Tenth Annual States' Taxation Conference is being held on 29–30 July 2010.

Guest speakers include:

• Andrew Fraser MP, Queensland Treasurer
• David Parker, Revenue Group, Treasury
• Bruce Quigley FTIA, Second Commissioner, Australian Taxation Office
• Michael Perez FTIA, Allens Arthur Robinson.

Read more about the Tenth Annual States' Taxation Conference.

OSRconnect will not be available from 7am to 11am on Sunday 25 July due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Our online lodgement system is currently under heavy load due to the amount of users trying to access it. If you experience slow load times, please try again later.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

We now accept credit card payments for amounts up to $5,000 (minimum $10). You can pay your tax liability through BPOINT® using your Visa or Mastercard. Call 1300 803 545 and follow the prompts or pay online.

When making phone or online payments, ensure you use the correct biller code and payment reference code so that your payment is applied correctly. A 0.5% surcharge applies to all BPOINT payments.

Payroll tax annual returns are due by 28 July.

Please remember that the week leading up to this date can be very busy. With thousands trying to lodge in the last few days, you may experience slow load times in OSRconnect. To avoid this, please lodge sooner rather than later.

OSRconnect is available for online lodgements 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. See our lodging an annual return tutorial for a step-by-step guide to lodging online.

On 30 June 2010, the  following Public Rulings were released as a consequence of the Land Tax Act 2010. 

New Rulings

GEN009.1—Withdrawal of Land Tax Public Rulings relating to the Land Tax Act 1915

LTA000.1.1—The land tax exemption for a home

LTA000.2.1—Beneficiaries of superannuation funds 

LTA009.1.1—Assessment of deeds of grant in trust 

LTA011.1.1—Contracts for the sale and purchase of land—who is the owner pursuant to section 11 

LTA020.1.1—Assessment of trustees under section 20 of the Land Tax Act 2010 

LTA030.1.1—Meaning of ‘held for sale’ in section 30 of the Land Tax Act 2010 

LTA041.1.1—Land tax home exemption—trustees 

LTA053.1.1—Guidelines for determining the business of agriculture, pasturage or dairy farming 

LTA053.2.1—Exemption for the exemption of agriculture, pasturage or dairy farming—forestry 

LTA054.1.1—Exemption for land used predominantly as a moveable dwelling park 

LTA058.1.1—Exemption for trade unions—Land Tax Act 2010 

Updated Rulings

GEN001.3—Public Ruling system: explanation and status 

GEN003.3—Charitable institutions 

GEN004.3—Relief of poverty 

GEN005.3—Public benevolent institutions 

GEN006.3—Guidelines as to charitable object or an object promoting the public good 

GEN008.5—Subpoenas, warrants and notices to produce directed to the Commissioner 

TAA000.1.4—Part 6 of the Taxation Administration Act 2001—objections, reviews and appeals 

TAA060.1.3—Remission of unpaid tax interest 

OSRconnect will not be available from 6pm to 8pm on Friday 9 July due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

SBR is now open for business, offering Australian businesses, accountants, bookkeepers, tax agents and payroll professionals a quicker and simpler way to complete and lodge reports for government. SBR makes business financial reporting easier to understand with a single reporting language.

With SBR-enabled software, businesses will spend less time and effort gathering, analysing and re-keying information. Using SBR-enabled software users can prefill and complete government forms, lodge directly to participating agencies from their own accounting system using the single secure sign-on—AUSkey—and obtain a receipt in real time.

We are one of 12 federal and state agencies working in partnership with software developers, businesses and their accountants, bookkeepers, tax agents and payroll professionals to reduce the business to government reporting burden. Agencies participating in SBR are the Australian Taxation Office, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and all state and territory revenue offices. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is also part of SBR and will go live in 2011.

To find out more contact your software developer to see when they’ll be SBR-enabling their products or visit www.sbr.gov.au for the list of SBR software.

OSRconnect will not be available from 6am to 10am on Sunday 29 August due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

OSRconnect will not be available from 5:30pm to 8:30pm on Friday 20 August due to scheduled system maintenance.

The system may also be offline at various times on Saturday—if you are unable to log in to OSRconnect, please try again later.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Certain Form 14 general requests can now be self assessed. These include:

• section 147—requests to remove a lease from a title (this may include determined, extinguished, forfeited, cancelled, expired or relinquished leases)
• section 117—requests to vest an interest, as a result of a change of trustee. 

To delete draft transactions in OSRconnect, you must complete a transaction cancellation request form.

This form must be completed within 30 days from the date the transaction is no longer needed.

We have developed a range of online toolkits to help you confidently meet your payroll tax obligations.

Topics covered include periodic, final and annual returns and grouping provisions. 

Our toolkits give you easy access to:

• OSRconnect eLearning
• relevant sections of the payroll tax legislation
• Public Rulings
• tips and traps when assessing your payroll tax or lodging a return online.

Check out our payroll tax toolkits.

The Brisbane QGSC counter and contact centre will be closed on 11 August 2010 for the Ekka show day holiday.

We will open again for business at 8:30am on Thursday 12 August.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

From 13 September 2010 the Office of State Revenue will assess the following transactions on a priority basis for professional clients, including registered self assessors:

• matrimonial matters (that cannot be self assesed)
• general request—s.125(b) vesting of dutiable property in a receiver or trustee in bankruptcy
• Stamp Act and Duties Act (interstate) trusts deeds and variations
• mining compensation agreements
• motor vehicle transfer applications pursuant to a stamped business contract (where duty has not already been paid at Queensland Transport).

OSRconnect will not be available from 8am to 2pm on Sunday 12 September due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Parliament recently passed the Surrogacy Act 2010, which legalised altruistic surrogacy arrangements in Queensland. 

As a result, Queensland’s industrial relations legislation was amended to extend unpaid leave entitlements to parents on surrogacy leave, similar to parental or adoption leave. In certain situations, employers will provide paid surrogacy leave to their employees. 

Under the Payroll Tax Act 1971, wages paid to employees during surrogacy leave are now exempt from payroll tax.

See the Justice and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2010 for the amendments.

A new draft Public Ruling is now available for public comment.

• Transfer duty—public unit trusts—Commissioner's satisfaction in relation to related person's interest being used and acquired independently

The proposed ruling sets out how the Commissioner will apply a discretion under section 61(3) of the Duties Act 2001 to treat trustees of public unit trusts as not being related persons for the purposes of section 61 of the Duties Act.

Any feedback or comments can be sent to narelle.houston@osr.qld.gov.au by 16/11/2010. You will need to include your contact details if you would like a reply.

Note: Public comment on this ruling has now closed.

OSRconnect will not be available from 7am to 11am on Sunday 17 October due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

OSRconnect will not be available from 8am to 1pm on Sunday 14 November due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Public Ruling DA000.9.1— Transfer duty—Administrative arrangement—Relief for certain dutiable transactions relating to a special disability trust has been released.

It outlines the administrative arrangement that provides ex gratia relief from transfer duty on certain dutiable transactions relating to special disability trusts (SDT), subject to certain conditions.

OSRconnect will not be available from 7am to 8pm on Saturday 18 December due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

OSRconnect will not be available from 5:30pm to 6:30pm on Tuesday 14 December due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

OSRconnect will not be available from 5:30pm to 6:00pm on Monday 13 December due to scheduled system maintenance.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

The due date for the December payroll tax return has been extended to Friday 14 January.

Eligible grant applications received before 10 December will be paid before 24 December 2010.

Any application received after this date will not be paid until the new year.

Note: You must provide all supporting documentation and meet the eligibility requirements before we can pay the grant.

A new draft Public Ruling is now available for public comment.

• Determining whether a worker is an employee 

This proposed ruling provides information about employment relationships to help employers, principals and their professional representatives to determine whether their workers are employees for payroll tax purposes.

Any feedback or comments can be sent to narelle.houston@osr.qld.gov.au by 14/01/2011. You will need to include your contact details if you would like a reply.

Note: Public comment on this ruling has now closed.