Revenue Laws Amendment Bill

It amends a wide range of tax laws, with one of its provisions providing for an "accelerated depreciation allowance" for builders who refurbish existing buildings or who put up new ones within demarcated urban development zones.

Of interest to the conveyancer is the amendment of the Transfer Duty Act of 1949, so as to further regulate the provisions relating to duty on the conversion of share blocks to sectional titles and the duty payable on the cancellation of transactions. Which two amendments are reproduced here:

Amendment of section 1 of Act 40 of 1949

1. (1) Section 1 of the Transfer Duty Act, 1949, is hereby amended by the substitution in the definition of ''fair value'' for the words following item (iii) of paragraph (b) of the following words:
''(without taking into account any lease agreement [or], any liability in respect of any loan or any right to or an interest in the use of immovable property conferred on the owner of a share in a share block company as contemplated in section 1 of the Share Blocks Control Act, 1980 (Act No. 59 of 1980), in relation to that residential property or any residential property of any company or trust contemplated in subparagraph (ii) or (iii)), as is attributable to that share or member's interest; or''.
(2) Subsection (1) shall come into operation on the date of promulgation of this Act and shall apply in respect of any acquisition of any share on or after that date.

Amendment of section 5 of Act 40 of 1949, as amended by section 6 of Act 103 of
1969, section 2 of Act 86 of 1987, section 3 of Act 136 of 1992 and section 2 of Act 20 of 1994

2. (1) Section 5 of the Transfer Duty Act, 1949, is hereby amended by the substitution in subsection (2) for paragraph (a) of the following paragraph:
''(a) If a transaction whereby property has been acquired, is, before registration of the acquisition in a deeds registry, cancelled, or dissolved by the operation of a resolutive condition, duty shall be payable only on that part of the consideration which has been or is paid to and retained by the seller and on any consideration payable by [either party to the transaction] the buyer for or in respect of the cancellation thereof, provided that on cancellation or dissolution of that transaction, such property completely reverts to the seller and the original buyer has relinquished all rights and has not received nor will receive any consideration arising from such cancellation or dissolution.''.
(2) Subsection (1) shall come into operation on the date of promulgation of this Act and shall apply in respect of the cancellation or dissolution of any transaction on or after that date.

Note
[ ] Words in bold type in square brackets indicate omissions from, while ___________ words underlined with a solid line indicate insertions in existing enactments.

Revenue Laws Amendment Bill (Bill 71 of 2003)