Having a $17,000 bill slashed to $20 is reason to celebrate in anyone's language but for one Canberra couple it's a financial boon that has come with a fair bit of stress not to mention cost.
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Roozbeh Araghi and Luke Dorsett made legal and real estate history this week when the ACT government acquiesced on a court ruling that allowed the Crace couple's stamp duty fees to evaporate.
The government now won't rule out changing laws to garner more stamp duty in the future following the defeat, but for the moment the two federal public servants may have paved the way for other Canberrans to reap similar windfalls.
Mr Araghi said the court process had been "very draining", but he was relieved that others could benefit.
"We've always had a constant fear that we'd be even worse off financially," he said. "The ironic thing is that we now stand to get less back than other people."
The government could be forced to refund millions of dollars to some Crace residents for stamp duty paid on house-and-land packages, after accepting the ACT Court of Appeal decision to uphold an earlier Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruling to scale down the couple's stamp duty bill from $16,800 to $20 after the reduction left them eligible for a first-home buyer's stamp duty concession.
The couple had claimed the territory could impose stamp duty only on the land, valued at $80,000, not the whole $430,000 house-and-land package.
Justice Hilary Penfold's decision in March last year upheld the tribunal's view that the house should not be taxed because there were separate contracts, with separate parties, to buy the land and build the home.
The decision, which found the government had no right to charge stamp duty on a home that had not been built yet, will affect an estimated 200 home owners in Crace who bought packages as part of the government's affordable housing scheme before 2011.
Stamp duty is due to be abolished over the coming 20 years in the capital, but ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher said changes to the payment structure could be made in the short term.
"I wouldn't rule out whether we need to clarify other parts of our law going forward to make sure that we are getting the stamp duty we think is legitimate for those properties," she said. "I wouldn't rule out legislative change in any form." Potential legislative change won't affect the Crace home owners eligible for refunds.
Mr Araghi said he and Mr Dorsett paid almost $17,000 in stamp duty but legal fees from their first round in court could cost up to $10,000. The pair would be looking at mechanisms to retrieve that money, but hoped the government would also come to the table.
"We will also look at asking the ACT government to voluntarily meet those costs," he said.
Mr Araghi also said the stamp duty refund from the government should include interest, something that ACT shadow treasurer Brendan Smyth has called on the government to clarify.
Ms Gallagher said the matter was being investigated, adding "there are avenues for people to pursue that".
Final costs were still being calculated and the government would be spending the coming days contacting the 200 Crace residents believed to be affected.
