Legislation has been introduced in New South Wales to amend the
Duties Act 1997 (NSW) (Duties Act). Upon the State
Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 (Amending Act)
becoming law, the changes to the Duties Act will apply from the
later of 1 July 2013 or the date of assent.
Mining tenements
Currently, the Duties Act provides that a mining lease or
mineral claim under the Mining Act 1992 (NSW) (Mining Act)
is taken to give the holder an interest in land. An interest is
land is dutiable property and a transfer of an interest in land is
subject to duty. An interest in land is also treated as a land
holding of a landholder for the purposes of landholder duty.
The effect of the Amending Act is that each of an assessment
lease, exploration licence or opal prospecting licence under the
Mining Act will now also constitute an interest in land including
for landholder duty. This proposed change is significant
particularly given that the Duties Act currently
