Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1697756984735.pdf (Fiji)
Stamp Duties (Budget Amendment) Bill 2016 Bill No.

43 of 2016 Introduction The Stamp Duties (Budget Amendment) Bill 2016 (‘Bill’) seeks to amend the Stamp Duties Act (Cap.

205) (‘Act’).

Stamp duties are taxes on legal documents.

Such documents are termed “instruments”.

Some examples of such documents are Lease/Tenancy Agreements, Sale & Purchase Agreements and Share Transfer Documents.

In this Act, the Stamp Duties Act (Cap.

205) is referred to as the “Principal Act”.


According to the explanatory note, this Bill intends to amend section 98 and Part 1 of the Schedule to the Act as stated in the “Bill Summary of provisions”.

This act comes into force on 1 August 2016.

Objectives, scope and intent of the Bill The main purpose of the bill is to amend the Stamp Duties Act (Cap 205).
Bill Summary of provisions Short title and commencement Clause 1 (1) – this Act may be cited as the Stamp Duties (Budget Amendment) Act 2016 Clause 1 (2) – the Act comes into force on 1 August 2016 Clause 1 (3) – in this Act, the Stamp Duties Act (Cap.

205) is referred to as the “Principal Act”.
Section 98 amended Clause 2 ‐ Section 98 of the Principal Act is amended by— (a) in subsection (1), inserting “, instrument” after “contract”; (b) in subsection (1)(a) and (b), inserting “or transfer” after “sale”; and (c) inserting the following new subsection after subsection (3)— “(4) Notwithstanding anything in this Act and for the avoidance of doubt, any instrument of nomination, novation or assignment, howsoever titled, of any— (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) equitable estate or interest in or involving property whatsoever; or (b) estate or interest in or involving property, except— (i) property locally situated out of Fiji; (ii) solely of any goods, livestock, wares or merchandise; (iii) shares, stock or marketable securities; and (iv) any ship or vessel or any part, interest, share, or property of or in any ship or vessel, shall be charged with the same ad valorem duty as a transfer on sale.” Schedule amended Prepared by Shobhna Rani Email: shobna.rani@govnet.gov.fj 6 July 2016 Page 1 of 3 Clause 3 amends Part 1 of the Schedule to the Act by inserting “including any instrument of nomination, howsoever titled” after “TRANSFER” in Column 1 in the row following the row containing “SETTLEMENT, Deed of”.
Ministerial Responsibility ‐ The explanatory notes says that the Act comes under the responsibility of the Minister responsible for Finance.
International comparisons Victoria The Stamp Duties (Budget Amendment) bill is similar to section 7(1)(b) of the Duties Act 2000 (Vic), which imposes a duty on dispositions that are not transfers, including: (i) a declaration of trust (ii) a surrender of dutiable property (iia) a disclaimer of an interest or a right in respect of dutiable property (iib) vesting of land by statute (iii) vesting of land by court order of the Registrar of Titles (iv) vesting by enlargement of a term into a fee‐simple (v) granting of a lease for which any consideration other than rent reserved is paid or agreed to be paid (vi) the transfer or assignment of a lease (vii) any other transaction that results in a change in beneficial ownership of dutiable property.
1 New South Wales Similarly, section 9 of the Duties Act 1997 (NSW) also provides for the imposition of duty on transactions that are not transfers.

This includes: (i) declaration of trust (ii) surrender (iii) foreclosure (iv) vesting by court order (v) enlargement of a term in land into a fee simple (vi) vesting by statute law (vii) lease.

2 Gender analysis The Bill does not have any disproportionate impact on women and men.

Further information  Stamp Duties (Budget Amendment) Bill 2016 – No.
43 of 2016 Available at: http://www.parliament.gov.fj/getattachment/Parliament‐Business/Bills/2016‐Bills/Bill‐No‐ 43‐Stamp‐Duties‐(Budget‐Amendment).pdf.

 The Stamp Duties Act (Cap.
205) Available at: http://www.paclii.org/cgi‐ bin/sinodisp/fj/legis/consol_act_OK/sda157/sda157.html?stem=&synonyms=&query=stamp %20duties%20act%20cap%20205  Victorian Duties Act 2000 Available at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/da200093/s7.html 1 Victorian Duties Act 2000 http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/da200093/s7.html 2 NSW Duties Act 1997 http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/da199793/ Prepared by Shobhna Rani Email: shobna.rani@govnet.gov.fj 6 July 2016 Page 2 of 3  NSW Duties Act 1997 Available at: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/da199793/ Disclaimer This briefing was prepared to assist consideration of the Bill by Members of Parliament.
It has no official status.

Although every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, it should not be taken as a complete or authoritative guide to the Bill.

The Research and Library Team shall not be liable for any errors or omissions, or for any loss or damage of any kind arising from its use, and may remove, vary or amend any information at any time without prior notice.
The Research and Library Team accepts no responsibility for any references or links to, or the content of, information maintained by third parties.

Other sources should be consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the Bill.

Prepared by Shobhna Rani Email: shobna.rani@govnet.gov.fj 6 July 2016 Page 3 of 3