Private ruling: Capital gains tax - deceased estate - main residence exemption
Date of advice: 26 February 2016
Published: April 2016
Ruling period: Year ending 30 June 2016
Date scheme commenced: 1 July 2015

Ruling: Q1: Will the Commissioner exercise discretion under subsection 118-195(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (ITAA 1997) and allow an extension of time to the two year period? | A1: Yes.

Relevant facts and circumstances: The deceased died in the 20VV-WW financial year. A corporate trustee was appointed in 20WW to administer the deceased's estate when the named executor was unable to fulfil the role. The deceased purchased the property in the 19XX-YY financial year. The property was the main residence of the deceased when they passed away. No one has lived in the property since the deceased passed away. The dwelling was not used to produce assessable income, from the deceased's death up until you disposed of your ownership interest. The property was sold at auction and settled in the 20ZZ-AA financial year. The property sale settled more than two years after the deceased's death. There were multiple reasons for the delay in selling the property. These included: • the trustee company had difficulties in obtaining instructions from the beneficiaries due to the strained relationships. • the property needed extensive improvements which took time in order to have the property brought to a reasonable state to present at auction

Relevant legislative provisions: Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 104-10, | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 subsection 118-130(3), | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 section 118-195 and | Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 subsection 118-195(1).

Reasons for decision: Summary: Subsection 118-195(1) of the ITAA 1997 states that if you own a dwelling in your capacity as trustee of a deceased estate (or it passed to you as a beneficiary of an estate), then you are exempt from tax on any capital gain made on the disposal of the property if: • the property was acquired by the deceased before 20 September 1985, or • the property was acquired by the deceased on or after 20 September 1985 and the dwelling was the deceased's main residence just before the deceased's death and was not then being used for the purpose of producing assessable income, and • your ownership interest ends within 2 years of the deceased's death (the Commissioner has discretion to extend this period in certain circumstances). You have an ownership interest in a property if you have a legal interest in the property. This means that if you sell a property, your ownership interest continues until the date of settlement (rather than the date the contract of sale is signed). In this case, the property was purchased by the deceased after 20 September 1985 and was their main residence until they passed away in the 20VV-WW financial year. The property was not sold within 2 years of the deceased's date of death. You will only be able to disregard the capital gain from the sale of the property if the Commissioner extends the 2 year time period. The Commissioner can exercise his discretion in situations such as where: • the ownership of a dwelling or a will is challenged; • the complexity of a deceased estate delays the completion of administration of the estate; • a trustee or beneficiary is unable to attend to the deceased estate due to unforeseen or serious personal circumstances arising during the two-year period (for example, the taxpayer or a family member has a severe illness or injury); or • settlement of a contract of sale over the dwelling is unexpectedly delayed or falls through for circumstances outside the beneficiary or trustee's control There were multiple reasons for the delay in selling the property. These included: • the trustee company had difficulties in obtaining instructions from the beneficiaries due to the strained relationships. • the property needed extensive improvements which took time in order to have the property brought to a reasonable state to present at auction These delays prevented you from disposing of the property within the two year time limit. Having considered the circumstances and the factors outlined above, the Commissioner is able to apply his discretion under subsection 118-195(1) of the ITAA 1997 and allow an extension of time until the sale of the property was settled.