13—Land tax for unit trust scheme if unitholdings notified to
Commissioner
(1) A trustee of a
unit trust scheme to which land is subject may lodge with the Commissioner a
written notice of the unitholdings in the scheme.
(2) A notice must be
in the form, and contain the information, determined by the Commissioner.
(3) A notice takes
effect, at the option of the trustee (which must be specified in the notice),
for the tax year in which the notice is lodged or for the following year, and
remains in force until it is withdrawn by the trustee.
(4) Despite
subsection (1), if a trustee withdraws a notice that is in force under
this section in respect of a unit trust scheme, the trustee cannot lodge
another notice under this section in respect of that unit trust scheme.
Note—
For changes to unitholdings see section 13D(7).
(5) If a notice is in
force under this section for a unit trust scheme, the following provisions
apply:
(a) a
unitholder in the scheme is deemed, for the purposes of this Act (other than a
residential land exemption) to be the owner (but not to the exclusion of the
trustee) of land subject to the scheme that bears the same proportion to the
whole of the land subject to the scheme as the unitholder's unitholding in the
scheme bears to the total unitholdings in the scheme, and is liable for
land tax on that land accordingly, together with any other land owned by the
unitholder, assessed in accordance with section 8A(1) at the rates set
out in Schedule 1 Part 2;
(i)
constitutes the principal place of residence for all of
the unitholders in the scheme; and
(ii)
would, if it were owned by a natural person, be wholly or
partially exempted from land tax under a residential land exemption,
the unitholders are deemed to be the owners of the land for the purposes of
the residential land exemptions;
(c) the
trustee is liable for land tax on the whole of the land subject to the trust
assessed, in accordance with section 8A(1) at the rates set out in
Schedule 1 Part 2, as if the land were the only land owned by the
trustee.
Note—
If the unitholders are exempt from land tax under paragraph (b), the
trustee will also be exempt because the effect of the residential land
exemptions is to render the land exempt from land tax.
(6) Subject to
subsection (7), there is to be deducted from the land tax payable by a
unitholder under subsection (5)(a) an amount (if any) necessary to avoid
double taxation, being the amount determined by the formula:
Where—
"A" is the proportion of the unitholder's unitholding in the scheme to the
total unitholdings in the scheme
"B" is the total amount of land tax assessed on the trustee under
subsection (5)(c).
Note—
The deduction is applied to the total land tax assessed for the unitholder and
not just to the land tax assessed for the land subject to the unit trust
scheme.
(7) If a deduction
under subsection (6) would result in a negative amount—
(a) zero
is to be substituted for that amount; and
(b) the
amount of the difference between that amount and zero will not be credited to
any liability for land tax under this Act.
(8)
Subsection (5)(a) does not apply to a unitholder who holds units as
trustee of another trust.
Note—
Section 13B(1)(b) deems such a person to be the owner of land.
(9) For the purposes
of this section, a reference to a unit trust scheme does not include a
public unit trust scheme.