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Transfer farmland into a farm trust

We check whether your farm transfer qualifies for the stamp duty exemption, then prepare and lodge the application.

South Australia exempts transfers of farming land into a farm trust from stamp duty. The conditions are strict, and they apply to the land, the trust deed and who the beneficiaries are. Get them wrong and duty is assessed on the full market value of the farm. We check eligibility before anything is prepared, and lodge the application with the evidence RevenueSA wants.

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Eligibility checked before you commit

You find out whether the exemption is available while you can still change the deed or the plan.

An application built on evidence

The lodgement carries the material RevenueSA needs to assess it, rather than being submitted and argued about later.

The continuing conditions explained

You know what has to stay true after settlement, so the exemption is not clawed back years down the track.

What the farm trust exemption actually requires

The Stamp Duties Act 1923 (SA) (the Act) exempts a transfer of farming land into a farm trust from stamp duty in defined circumstances. It is the provision people know as the section 71CC exemption.

Three things have to line up. The land has to be farming land as the Act defines it, which means genuine primary production rather than a rural address. The trust has to be a discretionary trust of the right kind, with a deed that satisfies the Act. And the person transferring has to be a beneficiary of that trust, both at the time of the transfer and for a period afterwards.

The last one is the trap. It is a continuing condition, not a test you pass once. If it stops being true within the relevant period, the exemption can be clawed back and duty assessed on the original transfer.

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What land qualifies for the farm trust exemption?

The land has to be farming land as the Stamp Duties Act 1923 (SA) defines it, meaning land used for a business of primary production. The use has to be genuine and active. Land held for investment, or rural land used only incidentally, may not qualify. We assess your land against the definition before you proceed.

What does the trust deed have to say?

The trust has to be a discretionary trust in which the person transferring the land is a beneficiary. The deed also has to satisfy the requirements of the Stamp Duties Act 1923 (SA). Some deeds fail because of who the beneficiaries are. We review the deed before the application is made and advise on any amendment needed.

What if the transferor later stops being a beneficiary?

This is the condition that catches people. The exemption requires the person who transferred the land to remain a beneficiary of the trust for a period after the transfer. If that stops being true within the relevant period, the exemption can be clawed back and duty assessed on the original transfer. We set the continuing conditions out in writing at the time.

How is the application made?

The transfer is lodged with RevenueSA together with evidence of eligibility, including the trust deed and evidence of the primary production use. RevenueSA assesses it against the Act and either confirms the exemption or issues a duty assessment. We prepare and lodge the application and deal with any questions RevenueSA raises.

The exemption is available only if the requirements are met exactly

The duty saving on a farm transfer can be very large. Getting there means the right trust structure, land that meets the definition, and the evidence RevenueSA needs to assess the claim.

The saving is large, which is why the conditions are strict

You want the farm held in a trust and you have heard the duty may not apply. But you don’t know whether your land meets the definition, whether your deed qualifies, or what RevenueSA needs to see.

On a working farm, duty on market value is not a rounding error. It is the kind of number that forces a family to sell part of the land to pay the tax on keeping the rest.

We will assess whether your land and trust structure meet the exemption requirements.
We will review the trust deed and advise on any amendment needed to support the application.
We will prepare the transfer documents and lodge the application with RevenueSA.
We will explain the conditions that continue to apply after the transfer completes.

You want the farm to survive the handover to the next generation

You have spent a working life building this. Now you want the land in a structure that protects it and makes succession possible. You want it to pass as a farm, not as an estate to be divided.

But a transfer into a trust normally attracts duty on the full market value of the land. On a farm, that can be more cash than the business sees in a year. The exemption exists so that restructuring for succession is actually achievable. It applies only if the land, the deed and your position all meet the requirements. You want to know whether you qualify before you commit.

What's included in your farm trust transfer service

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Eligibility assessment against the exemption requirements.
Trust deed review and advice on any amendment needed.
Transfer document preparation.
Exemption application prepared and lodged with RevenueSA.
Settlement, title registration, and written advice on the continuing conditions.

What goes wrong when the application is made without checking first

The refusal is the obvious failure. The deed doesn’t satisfy the Act, or the land doesn’t meet the definition of farming land, and RevenueSA assesses full duty on market value. That money has to come from somewhere, and on a farm it usually comes from the land.

The quieter failure is the clawback. The exemption carries conditions that keep running after settlement. A family restructures again a few years later, or someone stops being a beneficiary, and duty is reassessed on a transfer everyone had forgotten about.

Both are avoidable. Both happen because eligibility was assumed rather than checked, and because nobody explained that the conditions did not stop at settlement.

How we protect the exemption, before and after

We assess eligibility first, before anything is drafted. If the land or the deed doesn’t qualify, you find out while you can still do something about it.

We review the trust deed against what the Act requires and advise on any amendment needed to bring it within the exemption.

We prepare the transfer and the application, lodge it with RevenueSA, and manage the assessment. Then we set out the continuing conditions in writing, so the exemption you obtained is still there in five years.

Three steps to a farm trust transfer that holds up

Eligibility confirmed, application lodged, conditions explained.

Check eligibility

We review the land and the trust deed against the exemption requirements and advise on anything needed to qualify.

Prepare and lodge

We prepare the transfer documents and the exemption application and lodge them with RevenueSA with the supporting evidence.

Settle and protect

We settle the transfer, confirm the title, and set out the continuing conditions so the exemption is not clawed back later.

Farm trust transfers, with eligibility checked before anything is lodged

Farming families restructure for reasons that have nothing to do with tax. Usually it is about which child is coming back, and whether the place can stay in one piece. The duty exemption is what makes that affordable, so the application has to be right the first time.

We assess eligibility against the land and the deed before any document is drafted. We tell you plainly if you don’t qualify, and whether an amendment to the deed would fix it. We prepare and lodge the application with the evidence RevenueSA asks for, and we explain the continuing conditions so the exemption isn’t lost later. We are an ISO 9001 accredited practice. How your matter is run, who does the work and what you get told are all defined and externally audited.

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Ready to find out whether your farm qualifies

The exemption can save a farming family a very large sum, but only if the land, the deed and the beneficiaries all meet the requirements. That is a question with an answer, and it is worth getting before you restructure. Tell us about the land and the trust and we will assess it.

Speak to a lawyer 1300 654 590