Most people assume it is, since it’s something that’s been going on for over a decade.
The idea is that one co-owner (most often a spouse) owns 99 per cent of the property, whilst another owns just one per cent.
Later, when the funds exist for each one to own a separate property, the owner of the one per cent transfers it to her spouse, thus incurring Buyers Stamp Duty on just the one per cent. She’s then free to buy a property without incurring Additional Buyers Stamp Duty (ABSD), since she has a property count of zero.
For the longest time, this has been the basis of the “sell one, buy two” strategy. But there was an interesting case of late that shed light on an unasked question: is there any illegality involved here?
Here’s the case in question:
A couple bought a Hillcrest Arcadia condo in a 99:1 ownership split. One spouse claimed she owned…
