Grants and extended Family Farm duty concessions make succession planning easier

June 20, 2016

Grants and extended Family Farm duty concessions make succession planning easier

Greater possibilities for succession planning for Queensland primary production families will become available from 1 July 2016 as a result of recent State Government budgetary announcements.

Duty relief extended

The current stamp duty exemption available for parents transferring primary production property to their children is available only to the extent the transfer is by way of gift.

If the Child takes on some of the Parents’ debt, or pays the Parents for the property, duty will be payable on the amount of debt assumed or the payment made.

This adds significant cost to succession planning transfers where Parents have not been in a financial position to gift the property free from debt.  By way of example, if the Child pays $1M for the transfer, duty in the amount of $38,025 is payable.

From 1 July 2016 duty will not be payable where the Child assumes debt or makes a payment for the Property.

Wider class of eligible transactions

Currently the duty exemption is not available for transfers of property held by trusts or companies.

When combined with other concessions, some transfers of interests in family owned partnerships and trusts that own primary production property may be exempt from duty.

When these changes are added to the recent broadening of eligible transfers to include transfers to and from other family members such as parents, siblings and spouses, much greater scope for cost effective succession planning will now be available.

Grants for succession planning advice

Primary producers may also be eligible for new grants of up to $2500 to get advice on succession planning.

If you would like to take advantage of the new exemptions to transfer duty and grants available for primary production businesses please contact our team: Michael Cowley or Norman Fox.