85 Years of Dispute Resolution

Transfer duty is an indirect tax paid on the acquisition of any property acquired by any person by way of a transaction or in any other way. The concepts of “acquire” and “acquisition” are not defined in the Transfer Duty Act 40 of 1949. However, the courts have consistently examined and clarified the meaning of the term “acquisition” as it relates to section 2(1), which is the main charging provision in the Transfer Duty Act. In CIR v Freddies Consolidated Mines Ltd, Centlivres CJ states the following (at 311C): “The word ‘acquired’ in the charging section (section 2) must therefore be construed as meaning the acquisition of a right to acquire the ownership of property. It has been argued that the term “transfer duty” is misleading, because it is in fact a duty imposed, among other things, on the consideration given by a purchaser of property for the right conferred on him to acquire the ownership of property.” The purpose of this article is to provide a basic overview of the circumstances under which transfer duty is applicable and to clarify the party liable for its payment in property transfers.