§ 10006. Liability for tax

(a) The person liable for the tax is the transferor, which includes the owner, seller, or other exchanger, of the land sold or exchanged. However, whenever in this chapter the transferor is relieved from liability for the payment of the tax on account of a certification or statement made by the transferee concerning the use or intended use of the land, and such certification or statement is, or turns out to be, untrue or incorrect, then the tax otherwise due from the transferor shall become the liability of, and shall be paid by, the transferee. The transferee’s tax liability shall be a lien upon the land transferred, running with the land, in favor of this State.

(b) In any such case where the transferor is relieved of tax at the time of transfer on account of a certification or statement made by the transferee, the transferor shall file at the time of transfer a land gains tax return in order to establish the amount of the tax liability of the transferee in the event that the certification or statement made by the transferee is, or turns out to be, untrue or incorrect.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, when underlying land is sold separately from timber or rights to timber purchased with the underlying land and both sales occur within six years of the purchase, the gain on the sale of the timber or timber rights shall be combined with the gain or loss on the sale of the underlying land to determine the land gains tax liability. If the sale of the underlying land occurs first in time and land gains tax on the sale has already become due before the timber or timber rights are sold, the taxpayer shall, as many times as necessary, recompute the tax and file an amended return or amended returns to include the gain or loss on the sale of all timber or timber rights sold within six years of purchase. The holding period used to calculate the total tax shall be the holding period of the underlying land. Gains on the sale of timber or timber rights shall not be subject to the tax assessed under this subsection if, prior to cutting and throughout the remainder of the six years following purchase or throughout the subsequent period of the taxpayer’s ownership, whichever is less, the land is subject to and in compliance with a forest management plan approved under subsection 3755(b) of this title or under 10 V.S.A. § 2623(2). This subsection shall apply only where one or more transactions within six years by the same transferor involve underlying land that is or was part or all of a tract of more than 300 acres of contiguous land owned by the same transferor at any time during the holding period. Transferors owned or controlled, directly or indirectly by the same interests, shall be deemed to be the same transferor for purposes of this subsection.

(d) If the property does not qualify as “land” under subsection 10002(a) of this chapter, the parties to the transaction are relieved of any obligation to pay the tax, file a return, or withhold the tax imposed by this chapter. If the property qualifies as “land” under subsection 10002(a) of this chapter, but an exclusion is claimed under any of the remaining subsections of section 10002, the parties to the transaction must still comply with the obligations to pay, file, and withhold, as specified under this chapter. (Added 1973, No. 81, § 8. eff. May 1, 1973; amended 1983, No. 59, § 9, eff. April 22, 1983; 1991, No. 186 (Adj. Sess.), § 32, eff. May 7, 1992; 1995, No. 53, § 6, eff. April 20, 1995; 2019, No. 71, § 17, eff. Jan. 1, 2020.)