Clause 15

Where the Commissioner is satisfied that the purpose or effect of any arrangement is, directly or indirectly —

to alter the incidence of any duty which is payable or which would otherwise have been payable by any person;

to relieve any person from any liability to pay duty; or

to reduce or avoid any liability imposed or which would otherwise have been imposed on any person by this Act,the Commissioner may, without prejudice to such validity as it may have in any other respect or for any other purpose, disregard or vary the arrangement and make such adjustments as he considers appropriate, including the amount of duty payable, or the imposition of liability to duty, so as to counteract any reduction in or avoidance of duty payable by that person from or under that arrangement.(2) In this section, “arrangement” means any scheme, trust, grant, covenant, agreement, disposition, transaction and includes all steps by which it is carried into effect.(3) This section shall not apply to —

any arrangement made or entered into before the date of commencement of section 15 of the Stamp Duties (Amendment) Act 1999; or

any arrangement carried out for bona fide commercial reasons and had not as one of its main purpose the avoidance or reduction of duty.”.