State taxes generate a disproportionate share of the disputes we see, for a simple reason: the exemptions are narrow, the declarations are signed early and Revenue NSW reviews them years later. By the time an assessment issues, the transaction is long finished and the evidence has to be reconstructed.
The three recurring fronts are surcharge duty and surcharge land tax for foreign persons, residence-based concessions and exemptions and the payroll tax contractor and grouping provisions. All three turn on facts and all three are decided on what can be proved.
Where we act
What we do
- Surcharge purchaser duty and surcharge land tax: foreign person status, trust beneficiary classes and exemptions
- First home buyer duty exemptions and concessions, including residence requirement investigations and reviews
- Principal place of residence land tax exemption, including intended use and construction cases
- Primary production land tax exemption
- Landholder duty, aggregation and the treatment of leasehold improvements
- Corporate reconstruction and consolidation relief
- Trust deed amendments to exclude foreign beneficiaries
- Payroll tax: the contractor provisions and exemptions, employment agency provisions and grouping
- Objections, reviews and NCAT applications against Revenue NSW assessments
- Interest and penalty tax remission: interest under the Chief Commissioner’s published guidelines, penalty tax on the statutory reasonable care test
Common situations
What we are usually brought in on
- A purchaser declaration signed years ago turns out to be wrong and the assessment arrives with interest and penalty tax attached.
- “I relied on my lawyer” is the entire defence, without the retainer, the question asked or the advice received in evidence.
- The residence requirement was not met, the concession is clawed back and the contemporaneous records are thin.
- A discretionary trust never excluded foreign beneficiaries, so the trustee is a foreign person for surcharge purposes.
- Contractors are deemed employees under the payroll tax provisions and grouping multiplies the exposure across entities.
How we work
Our approach
Evidence first, again. State revenue disputes are evidence disputes. The first step is almost always establishing what documentary record exists and what it shows.
Know which remission test applies. Since 1 July 2025, interest is remitted only in accordance with Revenue NSW’s published guidelines, which set out a closed list of grounds. Penalty tax remission is separate and still turns on reasonable care. The two should not be run as one argument.
Deal with the deadline. Objection periods for state taxes are short and unforgiving. Where a date has passed, an extension application has to explain the delay properly.
Common questions
Can surcharge purchaser duty be refunded?
In some circumstances, yes: for example where a permanent resident satisfies a residence requirement within the required period, or where the assessment was made on an incorrect view of foreign person status. Each refund pathway has its own conditions and time limits, so the specific basis needs to be identified before an application is made.
How long do I have to object to a Revenue NSW assessment?
Generally 60 days from the date of service of the notice of assessment. A late objection can be lodged, but Revenue NSW has a discretion whether to consider it and the application has to explain the delay. Treat the 60 days as a hard deadline.
Case notes
Recent decisions on duty, land tax and payroll tax
State taxes
The cleaning company with no cleaners
Cerisewin [2026] NSWSC 877
The NSW Supreme Court holds a cleaning business with no cleaners of its own was an employment agent, and $2.07m of payroll tax, penalty and interest stands.
State taxes
First home buyer duty and the residence requirement
Chew [2026] NSWCATAD 200
A NSW decision on the first home buyer residence requirement where a medical need interrupted occupation.
State taxes
The rundown house next door
Boyd [2026] NSWCATAD 209
NCAT holds the principal place of residence exemption covers the adjoining lot, because the dilapidated house on it was not capable of separate occupation.
State taxes
$253,055 in duty on a draft that transferred nothing
Forever Grateful [2026] NSWSC 761
A NSW Supreme Court decision on when a duty liability arises and why uploading a draft transfer to eDuties did not create one.
State taxes
Payroll tax and how wide the contractor provisions reach
SKG Cleaning [2026] NSWCA 122
A NSW Court of Appeal decision on the payroll tax employment agency provisions, how far they extend and where they stop.
State taxes
Remission is not a fairness safety net
Tang [2026] NSWCATAD 183
A NSW decision on motor vehicle duty, the two interest rates and why remission is a narrow concession rather than relief for honest mistakes.
Show all 18 notes
State taxes
“I relied on my lawyer” is not evidence of advice
Rahman [2026] NSWCATAD 172
A NSW decision on surcharge purchaser duty, penalty tax and what a taxpayer must actually prove to establish reasonable care.
State taxes
Remain is not a life estate
Morgan [2026] NSWCATAD 149
A NSW duty decision on whether a right to remain in the family home is a life estate, and why the case was lost on valuation evidence rather than the law.
State taxes
The top-up that cost $19.9 million
ISPT [2026] NSWSC 424
The NSW Supreme Court aggregates a public-period acquisition with a later private-period top-up, and duty lands on the entire 95.26 per cent.
State taxes
The unwritten agreement that saved the exemption
Marshall [2026] NSWCATAD 116
A NSW decision holding the matrimonial property exemption survived a transfer that departed from the consent orders, on an agreement inferred from conduct.
State taxes
Surcharge land tax and the trust nobody amended
SN Casey [2026] NSWCATAD 105
A NSW decision on surcharge land tax where a discretionary trust holding residential property had never excluded foreign beneficiaries.
State taxes
The cafe that cost the farm its exemption
E-Synergies [2026] NSWCATAP 103
A NSW Appeal Panel decision on mixed-use rural land where the cafe and the cottages, not the cattle, were the dominant use for land tax.
State taxes
Contractors, relevant contracts and two separate questions
Living Works [2026] NSWCATAD 80
A NSW decision working through both payroll tax questions: are the workers employees and if not, is there a relevant contract?
State taxes
There is no wrong method
Esperia [2026] NSWCA 30
The NSW Court of Appeal holds there is no legally required valuation method, and methodology disputes dressed as questions of law will not survive.
State taxes
The template trust deed that did not exclude foreign persons
Verona Hill [2026] NSWCATAD 69
A NSW decision on why foreign person exclusion clauses in a template trust deed can still fail the surcharge land tax test.
State taxes
Specialised work, same payroll tax
SoClean [2026] NSWSC 161
The NSW Supreme Court holds $30 million of specialised cleaning subcontractor payments were deemed wages, on every issue argued.
State taxes
The amendment between exchange and settlement
Antap Trust [2025] NSWCATAD 136
A family farm transfer nearly lost its s 274 duty exemption because the trust deed was amended between contract and settlement. Timing saved it.
State taxes
Or means or
Special Situations [2025] QSC 345
The Supreme Court of Queensland sets aside $14m of landholder duty, reading the group property gateway the way restructures actually work.
Have a matter you want a straight answer on?
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