Section 56H (1): Tax Administration Act 1999

I'm in the process of refinancing the mortgage against my OO apartment in Canberra and the title search result showed the following line:

Overriding First Charge in favour of Commissioner for Revenue under Section 56H (1) of the Taxation Administration Act 1999 with first priority​

The lender said their lawyers have never seen this before and my credit report showed no relevant flags so they are stumped. They've asked me to try find out what this means while they keep digging.

Section 56H (1) from the Act:

Tax payable is charge on land

(1)Tax payable in relation to a parcel of land is a charge on the interest held by the owner of the parcel.​

Any property law experts here care to chime in?

 

ACT Act so have you paid your rates and/or stamp duty? Debt owed by strata?

 

you appear to owe the ACT government money - likely to be land tax

 

Unless it is just a warning to people dealing with the property to check whether there is any land tax owing.

 

I thought land tax doesn't apply to PPORs.

 

It can.

Was that notation there before. It might just be a general warning like jrc mentioned. It is a bit unusual though if the lender's lawyers haven't seen it before.

 

Mystery solved. The charge refers to deferred stamp duty.

 

Will the lender allow you to refinance still?

 

Yes, but I need to get 'consent' from the ACT Revenue Office first. There's a government form to submit.