Growers taking out hail insurance for cereal crops such as wheat and barley get an exemption on the Victorian Government’s 10 per cent stamp duty rate. However, if they are insuring oilseed or legume crops against hail they must pay the full 10 per cent, according to the legislation governing stamp duty in Victoria. This year lentils and chick peas are worth $680-$700 a tonne, and non-GM canola about $500 a tonne while Australian Premium White wheat is worth just $200-$230 a tonne and feed barley about $150 to $170. Another puzzling aspect of the stamp duty laws in Victoria is premiums paid for fire insurance policies for cereal crops are not exempt from stamp duty. According to the Department of Treasury and Finance, the effective rate of stamp duty charged on premium payments for hail and fire protection of cereal crops is 1 per cent. “It reflects the fact that the hail portion of the fire and hail insurance is exempt from stamp duty, while the fire portion is not,” the Department spokeswoman said. Its understood the anomaly is decades old and dates back to when cereal crops were the dominant crop grown in Victoria. In addition, investigation also reveals there is no stamp duty exemption on multi-peril crop insurance premiums, which can cover hail as well as other perils such as drought or frost. Primacy Underwriting chief executive officer Marcus Pearl said he had been lobbying the Government to rectify the situation. Victorian Farmers Federation grains group president Brett Hosking said having different levels of stamp duty on different crop types “seems ridiculous and adds another layer of red tape for growers”. “I would be interested to hear the justification. We will have a look at and see what the impact is for growers,” he said. A spokesman for the Victorian Government said while “there is no current proposal to adjust settings around exemptions relating to crop insurance. The Government continues to listen to Victorian farmers.” Source - http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au