An approved person acting on behalf of taxpayers liable to pay duty on transactions and instruments under section 289A of the Duties Act 1997, is approved for a special tax return arrangement under Division 2 of Part 6 of the Taxation Administration Act 1996.
Under this arrangement, an approved person is approved to endorse documents/instruments upon receipt of a Duties Notice of Assessment and Duties Statement from the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue and pay duty by way of a weekly remittance.
The Electronic Duties Return (EDR) approval is given subject to an approved person agreeing to all terms and conditions referenced in the Directions for Using Electronic Duties Return (Directions) and is further subject to the provisions of the Taxation Administration Act 1996.
The approved person declares when signing the Electronic Duties Returns Application for Approval of Special Tax Return Arrangements (ODA 029) that they have read the Directions in its entirety and agree that their organisation will use EDR in accordance with the terms and conditions outlined in the Directions.
Failure to adhere to the terms and conditions outlined in the Directions may result in the EDR service being suspended or your EDR approval being cancelled.
EDR payment obligations
An EDR approved person must have the duty payable available to them prior to processing transactions through EDR. This is the case for all EDR transactions, except those where the duty will be paid at settlement (EDR Settlement Policy).
Under your approval, Revenue NSW must receive the total tax payable (duty and any interest) for your weekly return period by close of business the Thursday following the week to which the payment period relates (e.g. week ending 29/06/2013 must be received before close of business Thursday 04/07/2013).
Suspension of EDR service
We will suspend your EDR service (Document stamping) if your weekly Invoice payment is not received by the due date.
If your EDR service has been suspended the following EDR error message will be displayed when you submit a transaction:
‘Revenue NSW cannot process this matter as your EDR service has been suspended.’
The suspension will be lifted when the total tax outstanding has been received by Revenue NSW. Please note that access to the Return Period Invoice and Duties Assessment Reissue will still be available even if your service has been suspended.
Revenue NSW may also suspend your EDR service and notify you in writing if:
- any of the terms and conditions outlined in the Directions are breached
- we believe suspension is necessary to protect the integrity of the EDR program
- we believe there is an unacceptable risk that the EDR approved person will not comply with an obligation under the Duties Act 1997 or the Taxation Administration Act 1996.
In the above instances, we will send you a written notice of our intention to suspend your EDR service, which will outline:
- reason for suspension
- outstanding requirements
- effective date of suspension.
The suspension will not be lifted until all outstanding requirements have been satisfied and a letter from your firm confirming that our Directions will be adhered to in future is tendered.
This letter must be signed by a partner of a partnership or an authorised officer of a company.
Failure to satisfy our requirements may result in your approval being cancelled.
Cancellation of your EDR approval
Your EDR approval can be cancelled at any time by way of written notice.
A decision to cancel the approval is made at the Chief Commissioner of State Revenue’s discretion. We may cancel your EDR approval if you:
- fail to pay all taxes by the due date
- fail to address outstanding requirements outlined in the suspension notice
- reach the terms and conditions of the Directions
- or your employees, agents or contractors commit a fraud or any other criminal offence.
Your EDR approval may also be cancelled if in the reasonable opinion of Revenue NSW, your volume of transactions are low in number and it is not practical for you to remain as an EDR approved person.
On cancellation of your EDR approval, you must:
- pay all outstanding taxes
- finalise all outstanding requirements
- return all accountable stamps and any other Revenue NSW property in your possession, custody or control
- allow Revenue NSW to conduct an audit and investigation on reasonable notice to ensure compliance with the Directions
- cease acting as an EDR approved person in every way, including promoting or advertising yourself as an EDR approved person
- immediately discontinue use of all indications which might lead the public to believe that you continue to be an EDR approved organisation.