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CS 39 Proposed change to stamp duty disclosure requirements

simple consultation – 39

Released 28 November 2025. Comments close 20 February 2026.

ASIC is seeking feedback on a proposal to amend ASIC Corporations (Disclosure of Fees and Costs) Instrument 2019/1070 (Instrument 2019/1070) to require stamp duty to be disclosed in Fees and Costs Summaries as an average amount over seven years.

ASIC is proposing to amend notional clause 103A of Schedule 10 to the Corporations Regulations 2001 to implement this change. View the draft amendment instrument.

The proposal is a result of ASIC’s targeted review of superannuation investment disclosure requirements announced in August this year. As part of this review, ASIC established a Superannuation Investment Working Group (Working Group) which included representatives from superannuation funds, the investment management sector, consumer advocates, and government and regulatory bodies. The Working Group met once in September and once in October 2025, to provide ASIC with expert advice on whether disclosure settings were causing distortions to investment decisions.

The proposal is intended to operate as an interim measure to immediately address concerns that stamp duty is a large, irregular cost which may misrepresent the actual volatility of a fund’s fees and costs structure, distorting consumer decision-making and funds’ investment decisions, especially when viewed through particular comparative tools.

ASIC will also bring forward, and conduct in a timely manner, its broader review of Instrument 2019/1070 and associated guidance in ASIC Regulatory Guide 97 Disclosing fees and costs in PDSs and periodic statements (RG 97) to begin in FY2026/2027. This review will allow ASIC to hear evidence on whether to consider broader issues under Instrument 2019/1070 and RG 97.

ASIC acknowledges that other proposals for changing stamp duty disclosure have been raised. We welcome any additional feedback on alternative options.  

Some stakeholders have advocated for stamp duty to be removed as a transaction cost. ASIC considers that a broader review would be necessary to assess whether there may be other costs that should be disclosed differently if we made this change, as well as the impacts on competition and transparency. Some stakeholders have advocated for ASIC to reconsider the treatment of other fees and assets in RG 97. ASIC has observed issues with inadequate disclosures in recent work, including in relation to fees and costs in PDSs. A broader review will also allow us to consider these issues in the round.

A consultation paper was not issued for this consultation.

Providing feedback

We invite feedback on our proposal.

In particular, we seek feedback on the period over which stamp duty should be averaged. We have proposed that stamp duty be averaged over seven years. We consider this period is appropriate to facilitate the smoothing of stamp duty reporting and seek views from interested stakeholders.  

You should send your submission to rri.consultation@asic.gov.au by 5pm AEDT on Friday 20 February 2026.

You may choose to remain anonymous or use an alias when providing feedback. However, if you do remain anonymous we will not be able to contact you to discuss your feedback should we need to.

We will not treat your feedback as confidential unless you specifically request that we treat the whole or part of it (such as any personal or financial information) as confidential.

Please see our privacy policy for more information on how we handle personal information, your rights to seek access to and correct personal information, and your right to complain about breaches of privacy by ASIC.

Background

Instrument 2019/1070 modifies the fees and costs disclosure obligations set out in Schedule 10 of the Corporations Regulations 2001 (Cth). These rules require the disclosure of transactional and operational costs, including stamp duty on investment transactions.

As part of its targeted review of superannuation investment disclosure requirements, ASIC sought to understand whether reporting of stamp duty under Instrument 2019/1070 and RG 97 may be distorting investment decisions or creating outcomes inconsistent with the legislative objective of superannuation and not essential for the purpose of RG 97.

The Working Group advised that stamp duty, being a large and infrequent cost, can misrepresent the volatility of a fund’s fees and costs particularly when displayed in comparison tools such as the ATO’s YourSuper tool, and this can distort fund and consumer investment decisions. To remedy this, ASIC proposed to amend Instrument 2019/1070. The proposed amended legislative instrument would:

  • Apply to all superannuation trustees.
  • Allow trustees to disclose stamp duty in Fees and Costs Summaries as an average amount over seven years.
  • Continue to ensure members have access to meaningful information about funds’ costs and fees.

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