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Stamp Duties (Budget Amendment) Act 2015

REPUBLIC OF FIJI

Stamp Duties (Budget Amendment) Act 2015.

ACT NO. 19 OF 2015

I assent.
J. K. KONROTE
President

[23 November 2015]

AN ACT
TO AMEND THE STAMP DUTIES ACT (CAP. 205)

ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji—

Short title and commencement

1.—(1) This Act may be cited as the Stamp Duties (Budget Amendment) Act 2015.

(2) This Act shall come into force on 1 January 2016.

(3) In this Act, the Stamp Duties Act (Cap. 205) shall be referred to as the "Principal Act".

Section 4A amended

2. Section 4A of the Principal Act is deleted and substituted with the following—

"Waiver or refund of stamp duty
4A.—(1) Without prejudice to section 3, the Chief Executive Officer may, subject to such conditions as he or she considers necessary, waive or refund the whole or any part of any stamp duty payable in respect of any instrument provided that the waiver or refund does not exceed $10,000.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), if the waiver or refund exceeds $10,000, the Minister may, subject to such conditions as he or she considers necessary, waive or refund the whole or any part of any stamp duty payable in respect of that instrument."

New part inserted

3. The Act is amended by inserting the following new part after Part 2—

"PART 2A—ANTI-AVOIDANCE
Avoidance of Stamp Duty
27A. If there are reasonable grounds for the Chief Executive Officer to believe that any dealings have the direct or indirect effect of—

(a) altering the incidence of any stamp duty that is payable or suffered by, or which would otherwise have been payable or suffered by any person;

(b) relieving any person from any liability that has arisen or which would otherwise have arisen to pay stamp duty or file a stamp duty return;

(c) evading or avoiding any liability which is imposed or would otherwise have been imposed on any person under this Decree; or

(d) hindering or preventing the operation of this Decree in any respect,

the Chief Executive Officer may, without prejudice to such validity as it may have in any other respect or for any other purpose, disregard or vary the dealings and make such assessments as the Chief Executive Officer considers just and proper in the circumstances."

Schedule amended

4. The Schedule to the Principal Act is amended in—

(a) Part 1 by—

(i) deleting "Any mortgage relating to small and micro enterprises" under "MORTGAGE"; and

(ii) inserting the following new instrument in the table

Nature of Instrument	Amount of Duty	Persons Primarily Liable
"DEED OF ASSIGNMENT OF TRADE-MARKS	3% of the value of the trade-mark	The person executing the deed
FINANCE LEASE OR LOAN AGREEMENT, excluding a personal loan not exceeding $10,000	1.75% of the lease or loan	The lessee or borrower
NEW REGISTRATION OF VEHICLES, according to the engine capacity of the vehicles—
(i) 0cc – 999cc; (ii) 1000cc – 1599cc; (iii) 1600cc – 1999cc; (iv) 2000cc – 2599cc; (v) 2600cc – 2999cc; (vi) 3000 – 3599cc; (vii) 3600cc – more than 3600cc	$25 $50 $100 $200 $300 $400 $500	New owner of the vehicle"

(b) Part 2 by inserting the following new paragraph after paragraph 28

"(29) Any small and micro enterprise with an annual gross turnover not exceeding $500,000 is exempted from paying any stamp duty under this Act provided that they declare by way of a statutory declaration that they have a gross turnover not exceeding $500,000.

(30) Any crop lien."

(c) Part 3 by—

(i) deleting paragraph 1(4) and substituting the following—

"(4) Any Fiji citizen who purchases a residential property in Fiji is conditionally exempted from paying stamp duty under this Act, provided that the residential property is the first residential property in Fiji or elsewhere that is purchased by the Fiji citizen in Fiji or elsewhere.";

(ii) deleting sub-paragraph (1)(a) and (c) of paragraph 3; and

(iii) deleting ", but does not include such a building which is divided into more than 2 parts each of which is occupied or intended to be occupied as a separate dwelling" in paragraph 4(b).

Passed by the Parliament of the Republic of Fiji this 20th day of November 2015.

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