Super funds united in reclassifying stamp duty

Mike Taylor

Managing Editor/Publisher, Financial Newswire

9 March 2026

A major superannuation sector organisation is arguing that treating stamp duty in similar fashion to other transaction costs risks eroding superannuation fund flows into direct investments including residential property.

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) has backed the position taken by the Super Members Council in telling the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) that stamp duty should be reclassified and excluded as a transaction cost.

In a submission to ASIC, ASFA has argued that “stamp duty is different to other transaction costs covered by RG 97: in effect, stamp duty is a tax on direct investments in Australian property assets”.

“Unlike other types of transaction costs, portfolio managers cannot reduce the quantum of stamp duty paid by efficient portfolio management or by changing investment strategies, other than making a similar investment in an overseas jurisdiction with no stamp duty,” it said.

“Treating stamp duty equivalently to management fees, by disclosing average amount over seven years, creates misleading cost comparisons between investments. This has the effect of making direct investments in residential property appear less competitive compared with foreign residential property or indirect property investments, such as through Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs),” ASFA said.

“For the superannuation system as a whole, the current disclosure requirements mean that flows of superannuation capital to direct investments in Australian residential property are likely to be lower than otherwise would be the case. Within the context of the significant shortfall in Australia’s housing stock, a likely impact of the current disclosure requirements is to impair development of the Australia’s nascent build-to-rent (BTR) market.”

ASFA said it recommends alternative reform to stamp duty disclosure, which would eliminate the distortionary impacts of the current requirements while maintaining transparency. In this regard, ASFA recommends either;

• reclassifying stamp duty as an excluded transaction cost; or
• reclassifying stamp duty as an incidental/operating cost reported separately as a statutory tax, rather than a fee or ordinary transaction cost.

“Removal of stamp duty was the preferred position of the sector represented during ASIC working groups on this topic held in November 2025, and in the letter from the sector to ASIC on 5 September 2025. Note that ASFA’s recommended approach would not impact how stamp duty costs are accounted for in the annual superannuation performance test,” it said.