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This page gives information about Certificates of Land Tax Payable and Certificates of Emergency Services Levy Payable.

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Certificates and property settlement adjustments

When buying or selling a property, it is common practice - and often a contractual requirement - for conveyancers or solicitors to apply settlement adjustments that proportionally account for each party’s share of land tax and the Emergency Services Levy. This helps ensure that unpaid liabilities do not transfer with the property to the new owner.

To support this process, a Certificate of Land Tax Payable or Certificate of Emergency Services Levy Payable can be obtained. These certificates:

• confirm the amount (if any) payable on the parcel of land at the time of settlement
• reflect any outstanding liabilities from previous years or payments made during the financial year
• indemnify the purchaser from reassessment of land tax liabilities for the current and prior financial years - provided the amount stated is paid in full by the due date and the certificate is not updated.

Certificates are typically purchased by conveyancers or solicitors and can be obtained:

• through RevenueSA Online, or
• via a Property Interest Report (PIR) from SAILIS, an online platform for land and property information maintained by Land Services SA.

Land tax - Single holding value

When a Certificate of Land Tax Payable is generated, the single holding amount for land is calculated using the general land tax rates and threshold, for the relevant financial year, as if that was the only taxable land in the ownership.

This amount is used so the purchaser is not disadvantaged if they purchase land from a vendor that:

• owns multiple properties (multiple holdings), where the land tax assessed is calculated on the total site value of all taxable land they own
• holds the land on trust, where the land tax assessed is calculated at the higher trust land tax rates.

Important:

RevenueSA takes no position on how property settlement adjustments are calculated between the vendor and purchaser. This includes situations involving subdivided land or other complex arrangements. The Emergency Services Levy and land tax must be paid in full to discharge any person from liability, and RevenueSA cannot accept responsibility for apportioning these amounts.

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How to purchase a certificate

1. To purchase, update, view or print a certificate, you must first Register to use RevenueSA Online:

• Complete the Register to use the Stamp Duty and/or Certificates Component of RevenueSA Online form.
• For the I am applying for access to: section, select Certificates and complete the form.
• You will need to provide
  • your ABN
  • the name of the legal entity associated with it and other supporting documentation.
• All RevenueSA Online users are required to accept and comply with the Terms of Use when accessing and using RevenueSA Online.

2. Once registered, you can log in to:

• purchase a certificate (you will need to provide either the assessment number of title reference for the property)
• make payment for outstanding liabilities shown on certificates requested via RevenueSA Online or through a Property Interest Report from Land Services SA
• request an update to certificates obtained through either RevenueSA Online or Land Services SA.

Note:

• Certificates are valid for 90 days from the first date of issue.
• Only the agent or organisation that requested the certificate can view or update it.

If your certificate is not appearing in RevenueSA Online, refer to the Certificate Enquiry / Update a Certificate help guide (PDF 203KB) or contact RevenueSA.

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Fees and payments

Certificate fees:

Making payments

Certificate fee payments can only be made via direct debit using RevenueSA Online. Payments are processed at the end of each business day.

Liability payments can be made via direct debit using RevenueSA Online, BPAY or mail.

Direct debit

• Payments made by direct debit are processed at the end of each business day.

BPAY

• Ensure you use the BPAY reference number and biller code shown on the certificate (and not the Land Tax Assessment or Notice of Emergency Services Levy Assessment) so payment is applied to the relevant property and, where applicable, a land tax indemnity is applied.
• BPAY payments are not instant payments and can take up to 3 business days to be received. Make sure you set up the payment prior to the due date of the certificate if you wish to be protected by the land tax indemnity.

Mail

• If you intend to pay by mail, please allow sufficient time for delivery to ensure payment is received by the due date and the purchaser’s indemnity for land tax is protected. Ensure you include the payment remittance advice component of the certificate to ensure your payment is applied to the correct property.

Cancelling requests or payments for certificates

• Certificate request payments cannot be reversed. However, if you have paid via direct debit and you contact RevenueSA on the same business day, we may be able to cancel a payment submitted in error.
• If you have paid via BPAY, contact your financial institution to request a reversal of the payment.

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Certificate validity and timing considerations

Before you purchase a certificate, you should consider both the validity period and the expected settlement date and, in the case of land tax, the indemnity for the purchaser.

Certificate validity

• Certificates are valid for 90 days from the first date of issue.
• They apply only to the financial year displayed on the certificate.
• If a certificate is purchased close to the end of the financial year, its validity may extend into the next financial year, but it will not reflect the updated land tax or Emergency Services Levy for the new financial year unless it is updated after 30 June (for land tax) or 1 July (for the emergency services levy).

If settlement is after 30 June

If settlement will occur shortly after 30 June, you may either:

• wait until 1 July to purchase a certificate for that financial year,
• update the existing certificate (if it has not expired) to reflect any new liabilities for the new financial year, or
• purchase another certificate for the new financial year.

Updating a certificate

• The agent who purchased the certificate can update it via RevenueSA Online, at no additional cost.
• Updates provide reviewed property information up to the original due date of the land tax certificate or expiry date of the emergency services levy certificate.
• Updating a certificate does not extend the certificate's validity or due date for payment.
• If the certificate’s validity crosses into the new financial year, an update after 30 June or 1 July will reflect the new financial year’s liability for land tax and emergency services levy respectively.

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Land tax indemnity

When the amount payable shown on the certificate is paid in full by the due date and the certificate is not updated, the purchaser is indemnified - meaning they are not held responsible - for any additional land tax that may later become payable due to reassessment (for example, following a change in site value or the removal of an exemption).

The vendor is not indemnified and remains liable for any reassessed land tax for the current or prior financial years. In such cases, RevenueSA will seek payment of the reassessed amount from the vendor.

Important:

• Certificates must be purchased in the same financial year that the ownership is being transferred.
• Certificates purchased for previous financial years will not indemnify the purchaser.
• Certificates are valid for 90 days from the date of issue.
  • Payment of a certificate after the due date will not indemnify the purchaser.
  • Should a reassessment occur after a certificate has been issued but not paid in full, the purchaser will not be indemnified and may become responsible for payment of the new amount payable.
  • Should a reassessment occur after a certificate has been paid in full, and the certificate is subsequently updated, the purchaser will not be indemnified and may become responsible for payment of the new land tax payable amount.

There is no legal provision for such indemnity for the Emergency Services Levy. If the amount shown on that certificate is incorrect, the purchaser may still be liable for any outstanding balance.

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