29/04/2010

As part of its compliance program, the NSW Office of State Revenue has recently coordinated the successful prosecution of several individuals who had provided false and misleading information to receive the First Home Owner Grant and stamp duty concessions on a property purchase.

The Office published a summary of the sentences received by some of those individuals.  At a minimum, each received a criminal record, a costs order, a fine and a good behaviour bond.

Strict criteria must be met to be eligible for the grant.  The person must be at least 18 years and cannot have previously received the grant.  The person’s spouse (including a de facto spouse) cannot have previously received the grant.  A person may be excluded if either they or their spouse has owned land in Australia previously. 

There are also many other criteria including time frames for occupying the property. 

It is paramount grant applicants familiarise themselves with the criteria before making the application given the serious consequences of making a false application.