2008 Announcements

The Office of State Revenue (OSR) recognises the impact that recent floods in Queensland may have had on our clients. OSR is prepared to offer assistance to flood affected clients by way of:

• providing time extensions to lodge documents or returns with the office
• providing time extensions for amounts to be paid without interest being charged  
• arranging for debts to be paid in instalments.

If you believe flood-related hardship could affect your dealings with OSR, please contact us on 1300 300 734, email us at clientcontactcentre@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au, or visit us at one of our counter areas.

Duties Online training workshops for completing mortgage and insurance duty returns begins this Friday 11 January 2008. These workshops are free and only available on Fridays during January.

Duties Online transfer duty training starts on Wednesday 30 January, with workshops and seminars continuing throughout February.

Secure your place by registering your attendance through the Duties Online website.

On Monday 7th January 2008, the Office of State Revenue is implementing a new revenue management and receipting system.

To ensure our staff are fully prepared to provide continued service to you, the Brisbane Counter will open for business at the later time of 10.00am on that day.

Your understanding is appreciated.

Duties Online workshops for transfer duty self assessors started Monday 11 February 2008 at 63 George Street Brisbane. Attendees practice lodging returns using Duties Online.

Duties Online seminars are also being held until Tuesday 26 February 2008. Register your attendance at a Duties Online workshop or seminar through the Duties Online webpage.

Transfer duty self assessors should receive their Duties Online registration packs in mid February. Username and passwords to access Duties Online will be activated from 3 March 2008.

For further information on Duties Online please visit the Duties Online webpage.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance Duties Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 12.00pm Saturday 16 February to 9.00am Monday 18 February. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

The Pay-roll Tax (Harmonisation) Amendment Bill 2008 was introduced into Parliament on Wednesday 27 February 2008.

The Bill predominantly implements a package of measures to harmonise Queensland’s pay-roll tax arrangements with those of other jurisdictions with effect from 1 July 2008.

The harmonisation package includes changes in the areas of taxable wages, exemptions, allowances and grouping of employers. No changes will be made to the tax rates or threshold. 

If you would like to view the Bill or its explanatory notes, they are now available on the Office of Parliamentary Counsel website.

Read more about the pay-roll tax legislation amendments.

Duties Online went live on Monday 4 February for registered mortgage and insurance self assessors. By now, all clients should have received a registration pack containing their username, passwords and online learning CD to help transition to Duties Online.

Registered self assessors should familiarise themselves with the new Duties Online webpage, particularly the mortgage and insurance return online lodgment demonstrations.

Mortgage and insurance returns are required to be lodged monthly, with the January return due by 14 February. Returns can now be paid electronically using the new electronic payment options for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), Direct Debit (DD) or Bpay.

Alternatively, please contact a member of the Client Contact Centre on 1300 300 734 if you have any questions about Duties Online.

Registered transfer duty self assessors can log into Duties Online from Monday 3 March 2008. 

Transfer duty self assessors please note the following:

• You will not be able to access Duties Online until 9:00am on Monday 3 March 2008.
• When logging into Duties Online and entering your username, ensure you type the correct suffix after your eight digit unique client number:

                              TS – super user

                              TD – standard user

• Take care when entering your password. After three incorrect attempts you will be locked out of Duties Online and to regain access, you will need to contact the Office of State Revenue.
• Familiarise yourself with the key roles and responsibilities of the super and standard user/s.
• Contact the Office of State Revenue Client Contact Centre on 1300 300 734 if you haven’t yet received your registration pack and password.
• Please email the Client Engagement Team (client.support@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au ) for logging on problems or Duties Online questions. Where possible, please attach a screenshot in a word document of any pages with the relevant error message. This will enable us to assist with the error.
• Register online to attend a March workshop being held at 63 George Street, Brisbane.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 1.00pm Thursday 20 March to 1.30pm Thursday 20 March. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

Transfer duty returns were due Thursday 13 March 2008.

Office of State Revenue (OSR) are committed to providing support to our electronic lodgers during this time and ask for your patience and understanding while the new systems and processes are bedded down.

We appreciate that some e-lodgers have experienced issues with Duties Online and will not be in a position to lodge their first transfer return using Duties Online by the due date. In these instances, OSR will consider written submissions from e-lodgers in relation to transfer returns and remission of any imposed unpaid tax interest (UTI) which relates to the late lodgement of the return.   OSR requests that clients do not pay the UTI as calculated by Duties Online and pay the primary tax only.

E-lodgers who wish to take advantage of this relief should outline their circumstances to the Commissioner who will look favourably on remission of any unpaid tax interest which may be triggered when lodging returns late. This relief is extended:

• only to transfer self assessors who intend to use Duties Online
• is available until the end of March 2008, and
• submissions must be made at the time of payment.

Clients who are experiencing difficulties using Duties Online should contact our Client Contact Centre by calling 1300 300 734 or alternatively send an email to client.support@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 8.00am Sunday 16 March to 2.00pm Sunday 16 March. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

Read online tips and information.

If you are experiencing problems your IT administrator should email client.support@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au and provide the following information:

• outline of the issue being experienced
• details of your operating system
• type of browser used
• browser settings
• firewall software details
• screen shots (including screen shots of browser settings if applicable)
• contact details and
• the Adobe version if unable to print forms 2.1 and/or 2.7.

Note - additional information may need to be sought by OSR after the above has been provided.

You can now view a PDF containing answers to questions raised during Duties Online workshops and seminars.

Transfer duty self assessors can now access Duties Online.

The first weekly return using Duties Online is due on Thursday 13 March 2008. To assist your transition to Duties Online, a variety of help options are available including:

• viewing the online demonstrations
• visiting the Duties Online webpage
• reading your user guide ‘Managing your returns online ’
• contacting OSR’s Client Contact Centre on 1300 300 734
• emailing Duties Online inquiries to our Client Engagement Team client.support@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au

The Office of State Revenue is redeveloping its website to help users find information easier and to make the content clearer, regardless of whether they be first time users or regular visitors. The OSR website will be designed to be the primary source of trusted and reliable information for people interacting with OSR.

The use of the website has grown enormously over recent years and has increased in importance for our clients and OSR, this means we need to improve the content, navigation and feature set of the website.

You can help by supplying feedback via a short on-line survey that will help shape the redevelopment.

Draft Revenue Ruling TA 2.3D is released for public comment. Revenue Ruling TA 2.3D sets out the general manner in which the Commissioner will decide whether or not to remit penalty tax imposed under s.58 of the Taxation Administration Act 2001 and the extent of any remission.

Members of the public are invited to comment on this Draft Revenue Ruling. Comments must be in writing and should be received no later than close of business Friday, 16 May 2008.

Written submissions are to be forwarded to:

Matt Houston
Manager - Administrative Policy Branch
Office of State Revenue
GPO Box 2593
BRISBANE QLD 4001

The Pay-roll Tax (Harmonisation) Amendment Bill 2008 was passed in Parliament on 16 April 2008 and is now awaiting Royal Assent.

The Bill predominantly implements a package of measures to harmonise Queensland's pay-roll tax arrangements with those of other jurisdictions with effect from 1 July 2008.

The changes contained in the Bill are as follows:

1. increase in the motor vehicle allowance exemption rate;

2. increase in the accommodation allowance exemption rate;

3. change to using the type 2 gross-up factor for valuing fringe benefits;

4. new exemption for paid parental and adoption leave;

5. new exemption for bushfire fighting and emergency volunteers;

6. new exemption for volunteer honorary ambulance officers;

7. new Community Development Employment Project exemption;

8. introduction of relevant contracts provisions;

9. introduction of employee share acquisition scheme provisions;

10. inclusion of termination payments to non-employee directors;

11. inclusion of superannuation payments to non-employee directors;

12. amendment of the exclusion of wages for work performed 'outside Australia' to 'in another country'

13. inclusion of 'remuneration' in the general definition of 'wages';

14. adoption of specific third party payment provisions;

15. changes to the grouping provisions; and

16. changes to the employment agent provisions.

If you would like to view the Bill or its explanatory notes, they are available on the Office of Parliamentary Counsel website through the following link:

http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/Bill_Pages/Bill_52_08.htm

Due to system maintenance activities, OSR's Services Online (including e-lodgment systems) will not be available during the following times:

7:00am to 10:00am Sunday 27 April 2008.

We apologise for the inconvenience - please try again later.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 8.00am to 12.00pm Saturday 19 April and 7.00am to 9.00am Sunday 20 April. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

From July 2008, Queensland will be aligning key aspects of its pay-roll tax legislation with that of New South Wales and Victoria.

This is your opportunity to learn more about these changes. The Office of State Revenue will be holding seminars in:

• Brisbane
• Gold Coast
• Toowoomba
• Sunshine Coast
• Bundaberg
• Rockhampton
• Mackay
• Townsville
• Cairns.
  

Seminars commence 7 May 2008.

OSR is currently redeveloping its website and is holding client forums as part of this review. These forums allow OSR clients to provide feedback on what their client information needs are and how these needs can be met through the website.

The client forums are scheduled for Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 May 2008 (during business hours), and will be conducted in Brisbane CBD. If you would like to participate in one of the forums, more information and registration is available on the OSR website.

Please register your interest by close of business Monday 26th May 2008.

The Revenue Legislation Amendment Regulation (No.1) 2008 was made on 15 May 2008 and gazetted on 16 May 2008. The Regulation increases the Community Ambulance Cover levy and various fees payable to the Office of State Revenue from 1 July 2008 in line with the forward movement in the Brisbane All-Groups Consumer Price Index.

An administrative arrangement was in place to extend the time period for lodgment of certain long term unconditional contracts i.e. contracts where settlement was more than 30 days after the date of execution, and the contracts were not subject to any conditions including, but not limited to, finance, zoning and registration of the plan.

This arrangement was administrative not legislative in nature and was discontinued from 3 March 2008. Long term unconditional contracts executed before 3 March 2008 will still receive the benefit of the arrangement when self assessed. Any contract executed on or after that date must be included in a self assessor's return within 30 days of becoming unconditional.

OSR apologises for any confusion that may have arisen regarding this change of practice.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 8.00am to 12.00pm Sunday 18th May. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

Practice Direction DA 45.1 sets out whether the Commissioner accepts that certain instruments executed in accordance with consent orders are entitled to an exemption under s.90(1)(a) of the Family Law Act 1975.

The Commissioner is currently reviewing his policy in relation to the assessment of transfers of dutiable property from a party or parties outside the marriage where the transfers are executed for the purposes of, or in accordance with, a consent order made under Part VIII of the Family Law Act.

Practice Direction DA 45.2 withdraws Practice Direction DA 45.1 as of 23 June 2008 pending the outcome of the policy review.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 4.00pm to 7.00pm Saturday 21st June. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

Revenue Ruling Tax Administration 2.3 - Penalty tax sets out the general manner in which the Commissioner will decide whether or not to remit penalty tax imposed under s.58 of the Taxation Administration Act 2001 and the extent of any remissions.

Duties Online clients can now access the program. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may have caused and thanks you for your patience.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Duties Online clients will not be able to access the program for the period from 11.00am until further notice. OSR will advise clients as soon as the maintenance has been completed and apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

On 3 June 2008 the Treasurer announced changes to transfer duty, mortgage duty, payroll tax and land tax.

The Government has announced proposed changes to the Fuel Subsidy Scheme. The details of the changes are still being worked through and more information will be provided on the OSR website as it becomes available.

Queensland Treasury will be consulting with various industry bodies and associations and an education program will be conducted to ensure all Queensland motorists are well aware of the changes before implementation. To keep up-to-date on the changes you may like to regularly check the OSR website or register on the website for e-mail alerts on fuel subsidy to be sent to you. View Ministerial Media Statement

The new versions of the following Revenue Rulings and Practice Directions are released to reflect the amendments made to the Duties Act 2001 by the Revenue and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2008, including the abolition of mortgage duty from 1 July 2008.

Revenue Rulings:

• DA2.3 - Concession for homes and first homes - occupancy requirements 
• DA5.3 - Lodgement of alternative documents for reassessment purposes where the original instrument is not available 
• DA20.3 - Self Assessors, the Duties Act 2001 and the Taxation Administration Act 2001 
• DA21.3 - Concessions for mortgage duty on home mortgages 
• DA22.2 - Concession for mortgage duty in relation to home refinance mortgages 
• DA31.2 - Administrative arrangement - relief from mortgage duty on certain loans and advances relating to the dairy structural adjustment program 

Practice Directions:

• DA2.2 - Treatment of barter or trade dollars 
• DA21.2 - Mortgage duty concessions - costs associated with establishing a mortgage 
• DA28.2 - Upstamping of instruments securing foreign currency advances 
• DA50.4 - Mortgage duty house and land packages 
• DA57.4 - Duty implications of dealings with water entitlements issued under the Water Act 2000 
• DA60.2 - Mortgage duty relief on the refinancing of certain rural loans 
• DA63.2 - Mortgage duty - charge over deposit monies 
• DA77.2 - Transfer duty concession for acquisitions of vacant land on which first home to be constructed - calculation of duty under section 93A 
• DA81.2 - Administrative arrangement - extension of duty home concessions to certain acquisitions and mortgages of freehold units in retirement villages 

View important changes to the regional offices from 1 July 2008, in the Contact section of the OSR website. 

The following 14 Harmonised Pay-roll Tax Revenue Rulings have been released with a date of effect of 1 July 2008. These Revenue Rulings are based on the suite of Harmonised Revenue Rulings which were developed and adopted by New South Wales and Victoria after their pay-roll tax legislation was harmonised from 1 July 2007.

• PTA 001 - Queensland pay-roll tax liability for wages paid by an employer
• PTA 002 - Expatriate employees
• PTA 004 - Termination payments 
• PTA 006 - Pay-roll tax exemption for payments to owner-drivers 
• PTA 007 - Contractor provisions - door-to-door sale of goods 
• PTA 008 - GST considerations for the calculation of pay-roll tax liability 
• PTA 009 - Exempt charitable institutions - meaning of "exclusively" 
• PTA 010 - Wages subsidies 
• PTA 012 - Exemption for parental and adoption leave pay 
• PTA 014 - What constitutes a day's work? 
• PTA 015 - Workers' compensation payments 
• PTA 018 - Contractor deductions 
• PTA 019 - Contractors - labour and non-labour components 
• PTA 020 - Contractors - 180 day exemption 

The following Practice Directions have been placed on the OSR website:

• Practice Direction Duties Act 1.8 - Adjudication fees 
• Practice Direction New Fuel Subsidy Scheme 1.8 - Information for bulk end users requesting a variation to claim period 

The new versions of the Practice Directions are released to reflect the increase in fees, from 1 July 2008 in accordance with Revenue Legislation Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 2008. The effect of the Practice Directions is otherwise unchanged.

OSR’s calculators have been updated to reflect transfer duty changes effective 1 July 2008. Users can access helpful information by clicking on the Help tab on the calculator screen.

The Treasurer has released a Consultation Paper which sets out proposed changes to the Fuel Subsidy Scheme and how the changes will affect fuel retailers, retail consumers and bulk end users.

Written comments on the proposed changes are sought from interested parties by 30 September 2008.  Comments should be provided to the address highlighted in the Consultation Paper.  View the Ministerial Media Statement, the Consultation Paper and Ministerial Statement. 

Homebuyers may be entitled to a 'first home' or 'home' concession for transfer duty which could result in reduced costs when acquiring a home.

Who can claim the transfer duty home concession?

In general, if a person buys a residence and lives in it as their “principal place of residence”, they may be entitled to a home concession. If they have never owned a home, they may also be entitled to an additional first home concession. You can view the transfer duty information sheet on concessions for homes for information regarding conditions and eligibility.

Can the home concession be claimed by a purchaser who is purchasing property in their capacity as trustee of a trust?

A trustee who occupies the home as their principal place of residence is not eligible for the concession unless the transferees are trustees of a trust (other than a discretionary or unit trust), the beneficiaries are individuals, all of whom are under a legal disability, and the residence would be the home of all the beneficiaries if they were the transferees of the land (section 91 of the Duties Act 2001). 

Can Companies claim a home concession?

Companies are not entitled to claim home concessions.

Further information

• View concession amounts and rates via the Rates of Duty brochure 
• Access the OSR calculators on our website

If you require any further assistance, please visit our website or alternatively contact us by email.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 8.00am to 12.00pm Sunday 17th August. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

The Office of State Revenue (OSR) will no longer automatically issue a booklet of periodic returns at the start of each financial year.

OSR has made pay-roll tax assessment information more readily available via a new online assessment information screen. This online information includes:

• the return period
• due date
• payment reference numbers and
• a break down on the assessed liability of the periodic return (when lodged).

To make your electronic payment via Bpay or Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) you will need to quote your 18 digit payment reference number obtainable on the assessment information screen.

If you do not pay electronically, you are still required to manually lodge your periodic return slip to OSR with your payment. To obtain a booklet of periodic returns, contact OSR on 1300 300 734.

If you require further assistance please contact us by emailing clientcontactcentre@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au or call our Client Contact Centre on 1300 300734.

OSR participated at the recent Home Buyer Expo in Brisbane. To assist first home buyers and property investors, information was presented on the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG), land tax, transfer (stamp) duty home concessions, state tax property obligations and entitlements, and calculating transfer duty.

Treasurer Andrew Fraser attended to view the OSR display and, while there, observed a demonstration of the online duty calculators available from the OSR website and accessible to all home buyers.

You can view the presentation, made on the day, that addressed many commonly asked questions about Transfer Duty, FHOG and Land Tax including residency requirements, first home concessions, investor obligations and duty liabilities when buying property in Queensland.

Change to first home buyer transfer duty threshold

As of 1 September 2008, first home buyers buying a home for $500,000 or less do not have to pay transfer duty.

Read about other budget changes.

If you require any further information, please email clientcontactcentre@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au.

The Office of State Revenue (OSR) will soon be launching a new online training program to help clients improve the efficiency and accuracy of their interactions with OSR.

The ‘e-learning’ tool will help clients and their new employees understand how to meet their obligations under the legislation and how to correctly lodge returns.

Your time is important.  With this in mind, a survey has been developed to enable you to offer suggestions on what you would like to include in the learning tool.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 8.00am to 12.00pm Sunday 21st September. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

Practice Direction FHOG 9.1- Administrative arrangement - the State of Queensland (represented by the Department of Housing) will not be an interested person.

On 15 November 2007 the Treasurer approved an administrative arrangement to ensure that a first home owner grant may be payable to a purchaser under the Department of Housing's Pathways Shared Equity Product even though the State of Queensland (represented by the Department of Housing) is a co-owner of the property with the purchaser.

PD FHOG 9.1 sets out the administrative arrangement.

Practice Direction DA 45.3 sets out the Commissioner's views in relation to the application of s.90(1)(a) of the Family Law Act 1975 (Cwlth) to transfers of dutiable property where the transfers are executed for the purposes of, or in accordance with, a consent order made under Part VIII of the Family Law Act.

First home buyers may end up paying 'NIL' duty if the value of the home is not more than $500,000. This is a result of changes announced by Treasurer Andrew Fraser on 3 June 2008.

These include a change to the rates of transfer duty and the threshold for transfer duty home concession and first home concession, increasing from $320,000 to $350,000 as of 1 July 2008.

And from 1 September 2008, the first home concession is further increased so eligible first home buyers will not pay transfer duty where the value of the home is not more than $500,000. The full concession for properties valued under $500,000 applies only to contracts signed on or after 1 September 2008. The concession will continue to apply on a sliding scale for properties over $500,000 (but not more than $549,999).

The Office of State Revenue (OSR) website calculators have now been updated to reflect these changes. If you require further information, you can view:

• the new First Home Buyer website 
• Transfer duty - concessions for homes information sheet 
• the OSR website or
• contact us by email.

Please be advised that OSR will be conducting maintenance on the online services. This means that our Services Online will be unavailable between 4:00pm Saturday 1 November to 12:00am Sunday 2 November. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 7:00am to 11:00am, Sunday 19 October. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

The Australian Government has announced a First Home Owner Boost, which supplements the Queensland Government funded First Home Owner Grant Scheme.

According to the announcement from the Commonwealth:

• First home buyers who purchase established homes will receive a boost of $7000 that will double the grant to $14,000.
• First home buyers who build a new home or purchase a newly constructed home will receive an extra $14,000 to take their grant to $21,000, provided the home meets their relevant state or territory energy efficiency and sustainability standards.

First home buyers will be eligible for the First Home Owner Boost on contracts entered into from 14 October 2008 to 30 June 2009.

Practice Direction DA 78.3 sets out the Commissioner's view of the application of the Duties Act 2001 to transactions concerning stapled securities.

Practice Direction Pay-roll Tax 9.1 sets out how the Commissioner will exercise his discretion in relation to penalty tax and unpaid tax interest arising in connection with the relevant contractor provisions introduced on 1 July 2008 as part of the pay-roll tax harmonisation measures.

The Practice Direction has a date of effect of 1 July 2008.

The purpose of Practice Direction FHOG 9.2 is to withdraw Practice Direction FHOG 9.1.

Practice Direction FHOG 9.1 outlined an administrative arrangement that ensured that a First Home Owner Grant may be payable to a purchaser of a home under the Department of Housing's Pathways Shared Equity Loan scheme even though the State of Queensland (represented by the Department of Housing) is a co-owner of the property with the purchaser.

The First Home Owner Grant Regulation 2000 has now been amended by the First Home Owner Grant Amendment Regulation (No. 1) 2008 to provide that the Department of Housing is not an interested person for the purposes of s.17(2) of the First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 where certain conditions are met. Therefore, Practice Direction FHOG 9.1 is no longer required.

The amendment applies to First Home Owner Grant applications made on or after 1 February 2008.

Please be advised that the OSR website, telephones, and our online and cashier services are now available.

Duties Online is now accessible but you may experience some slow responses from the system. We encourage you to continue using Duties Online to submit your lodgements.

You will not be disadvantaged as a result of this outage regarding UTI and penalties.

If you are unable to access Duties Online immediately, allow one hour to pass and try again.

If problems persist, phone our Client Contact Centre on 1300 300 734. If they are busy please send an email to Client Engagement and we will respond to your enquiry as soon as possible.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

The Office of State Revenue recognises the impact the recent severe storms in Queensland may have had on our clients and is prepared to offer assistance so that clients who have been affected by the storms do not have to worry about their tax obligations at this time. 

In particular OSR can assist in the following ways:

• providing extensions of time to lodge documents or returns with the office
• providing extensions of time for amounts to be paid without interest being charged
• arranging for debts to be paid in instalments.

If you believe storm-related hardship could affect your dealings with OSR, please contact us on 1300 300 734, email us at <clientcontactcentre@osr.treasury.qld.gov.au>, or visit us at one of our counter areas.

The counter at 33 Charlotte Street will close at 4pm on Wednesday 24 December 2008 and reopen at 9am on Friday 2 January 2009.

Throughout this time, information will still be available through our website or by contacting us by:

• phone—1300 300 734
• email—<clientcontactcentre@osr.qld.gov.au>.
  

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 8:00am to 12:00pm, Sunday 23 November 2008. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

In order to conduct necessary maintenance, Services Online clients will not be able to log on for the period from 7:00am to 6:00pm Saturday 20 December and 1:00pm to 5:00pm Sunday 21 December 2008. OSR apologises for any inconvenience this outage may cause.

The draft Land Tax and Taxation Administration Amendment Bill 2009 along with the Explanatory Notes are now available for review. 

In brief, the draft Bill proposes amendments to:

• Apply the provisions of the Taxation Administration Act 2001 to land tax;
• Remove all of the provisions in the Land Tax Act 1915 relating to the administration of the tax;
• Remove the restriction in the Land Tax Act 1915 against passing on the cost of land tax to tenants (while retaining the same restriction in the Residential Tenancies Act 1994 and the Retail Shop Leases Act 1994); and
• Effect minor changes to the administration of interest and penalty tax in the Taxation Administration Act 2001 – applying to duties, pay-roll tax and land tax.

Any feedback or comments can be sent to Landtaxconsult@Treasury.qld.gov.au by Friday 23 January 2009. 

Should you have any queries, please email the above email address (including contact details) and you will be contacted by return phone call or email.

The Revenue and Other Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2008 was passed in Parliament on 4 December 2008 and received Royal Assent on 11 December 2008.

The Bill amends various Acts including Acts administered by the Office of State Revenue to give effect to revenue measures announced in the 2008–09 State Budget to assist elderly Queenslanders, cap the First Home Owner Grant to eligible transactions valued under $1 million from 1 July 2009 and implement the First Home Owner Boost. The Bill also amends the Duties Act 2001, First Home Owner Grant Act 2000, Fuel Subsidy Act 1997, Land Tax Act 1915, Pay-roll Tax Act 1971 and Taxation Administration Act 2001 to implement a number of revenue measures, ensure certain provisions operate as intended, clarify the operation of certain provisions and address technical matters.

The Bill, Explanatory Notes, Amendments to the Bill and Explanatory Notes for the Amendments are available on the Office of the Queensland Parliamentary Counsel website via the following link:

Bills introduced to the 52nd Parliament 

This is just a quick reminder to reinforce the importance of using the correct payment reference number when submitting your electronic payment of payroll tax.

After you have logged into the assessment information screen you are provided with a list of your 12 (or agreed number of periods) different payment reference numbers for the financial year.

To make sure you've got your payment reference number right, OSR recommends that you use the following procedure:

Step 1—Select the code by highlighting it and then Copy (right click on your mouse, copy) the appropriate payment reference number—this will match the relevant return period.

Step 2—Place your cursor in the 'reference/description' field in your online banking facility and then Paste (right click on your mouse, paste).

Three days after submitting your payment you can log on again and check your liability (payment) has been recorded.

Using the right payment reference number is vital to ensure your payment is recorded.