Long after other states had abolished them, NSW had continued to impose the so-called ‘nuisance duties’ .

Nuisance duties included mortgage duty, stamp duty on the sale of a business and stamp duty on the transfer of shares in NSW private companies and units in private unit trusts.

After many years of delay, these were abolished in NSW from 1 July 2016 and apply to agreements entered into after that date.

Duty is now no longer be payable in NSW on the transfer of:

• goodwill of a business
• intellectual property
• statutory licenses such as taxi licenses and gaming machine entitlements
• shares in NSW companies
• units in a unit trust
• mortgages

Many of our clients are now taking this opportunity to implement a restructure their businesses and to acquire assets with significant stamp duty savings. For instance, a business purchased for $1,000,000 is now no longer required to pay $40,490 duty.