Thinking About Backdating Your Contract of Sale?

Vendors and purchasers who would like to take advantage of the existing off the plan statutory declaration by backdating their contract of sale would need to think again, seriously. 

In the case of Balonyi v Commissioner of State Revenue (Review and Regulation) [2015] VCAT 509, the purchaser claimed the off the plan duty concession.  The Duties Office initially allowed the concession but later undertook an investigation.  The Duties Office subsequently interviewed relevant people and after finding that the contracts were backdated, disallowed the concession, issued amended assessments and imposed a penalty of 75%. 

The developer appealed the assessment to VCAT, who upheld the assessment and the penalty.  It appears that the relevant factors that the VCAT took into considerations include:

• whether actual amount of deposit (rather than nominal) were paid; and
• when was payment made; and whether the properties were still marketed for sale when there were apparently contracts in place already.
• It was also admitted by the developers that those contracts were for the bank use for obtaining loans only and were never intended to be completed.  It was also interesting to see those relevant crucial persons who were supposed to give evidence either suffered from a medical condition or had a nervous breakdown. 

The full case can be accessed via the link: http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/vic/VCAT/2015/509.html for those who are interested. 

Please feel free to contact our office on 03 8685 8568 if you require any assistance regarding contract preparation.

Disclaimer

Any article published over our website is intended to provide commentary and general information only. It is not intended to and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Formal legal advice should be sought in each individual matter and based on personal circumstances. D Y & Co Lawyers is not responsible for consequences arising from any reliance on any article published.