Is there Stamp Duty on Transfer of Property from a SMSF - South Australia?

In South Australia stamp duty is not payable on a transfer of real property from a trustee of a trust to a person who already has a defined beneficial interest in the property. For example, a transfer of property from the trustee of a unit trust to the unit holder. We call this the ‘Beneficiary Exemption‘ (Section 71(5)(e) of the Stamp Duties Act 1923 (SA)).

Furthermore, the Beneficiary Exemption only applies where the beneficial interest arose under an instrument that was duly stamped.  This generally excludes the exemption from applying to a distribution of property from a discretionary trust to a beneficiary of the discretionary trust, because the beneficiary of a discretionary trust only has a ‘potential’ beneficial interest subject to the trustee exercising their discretion to make them entitled. However  Revenue SA has long treated the Beneficiary Exemption as applying to a distribution of property from a self-managed superannuation fund to a member of the SMSF.  The exemption applies up to the value of the member’s account balance.  If the property is worth more than the member’s account balance, then stamp duty is potentially payable on the difference.

Please be advised this is general information only, and is not to be taken as legal advice. If you would like more information, or have a legal query, please contact Abbott & Mourly directly.
Reviewed: 17/01/2024