A little note and Apollo 13

A Conveyancer’s Diary: Wednesday 14th April 2010

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A little note on Transfer Duty [and a quote from Apollo 13]

When a property is transferred, the implications of the Transfer Duty Act [which has been around since 1949] must be considered. The conveyancer needs to ask: “Is transfer duty payable or is the transaction possibly exempt from transfer duty?” Section 9 of this Act, sets out when a transaction involving property would be exempt. So, for example, if the transaction is vatable (whether vat is actually payable or not), then it is exempt from transfer duty.

Now, consider the following scenario: Mrs A and Mr A are married out of community of property and they get divorced. The house is registered in Mr. A’s name. In the settlement agreement, he agrees to transfer the house in full to Mrs. A. Is there transfer duty payable on this transaction?

Fortunately, the Transfer Duty act was amended in 2006 and now provides that in this case, the transaction would be exempt from transfer duty. Note that the divorced spouse must acquire the “sole ownership” of the property.



Regards,
Sieg



Quote:

“Ok, Houston, we’ve had a problem here.”

Fred [“Frodo”] Haise, today, exactly forty years ago, [14th April 1970] during the mission [moon bound] of Apollo 13. Apollo 13 was supposed to have been the third mission to land men on the moon. Haise and Jim Lovell would have been numbers 5 & 6 to walk on the moon.