AGY-1929 | Stamp Duties Office (1865-1983) / Stamp Duties Division (1983-88)

Full description

The Stamp Duties Act, 1865 provided for the imposition of duty on deeds and instruments, legacies and residues, successions to real and personal estate, and probate and administration duties.(1) Provision was also made for the appointment of one or more Commissioners of Stamp Duties and such officers as were deemed necessary to levy and collect the duties imposed by the Act.(2) 'Appointments of personnel to the Stamp Duties Branch of Treasury' was published in the NSW Government Gazette in a Notice dated 1 July 1865.(3) The Stamp Duties Act, 1865 came into effect on 1 July 1865, to continue in force until 31 December 1868.(4) The Act was extended until 1874, and then replaced by the Stamp Duties Act, 1880 which renewed provision for the imposition of stamp duties, together with specific provision for duty on the estates of deceased persons.(5) Amendments to this Act were consolidated in the Stamp Duties Act,1920 (Act No 47, 1920). Following the new Act, the Stamp Duties Office divided into two administrative branches, the Deeds Branch, which assessed and collected stamp duty on all types of documents, contracts for sale, and other instruments; and the Death Duties Branch, which assessed and collected death duties.(6) On 22 April 1983, in a Proclamation establishing the Department of Finance, the Stamp Duties Office was removed from Treasury and added to the new Department, as the Stamp Duties Division.(7) On 31 March 1988 the functions of the Department of Finance were returned to Treasury, with the Stamp Duties Division amalgamated into the Office of State Revenue.(8) FOOTNOTES 1.Stamp Duties Act 1865 (29 Vic, No 6) s.1 2.ibid, s.4 3.NSW Government Gazette, 4 July 1865, p.1456 4.Stamp Duties Act 1865, op cit, s.1 5.Stamp Duties Act 1880 (44 Vic, No 3), Part II 6.The Concise Guide to the State Archives of NSW, Fiche 20, p.1