Income tax: when is commission on the sale of real property derived as assessable income by taxpayers engaged in carrying on a real estate business?

The law of real property in Australia varies between each State and Territory. Allowing for these variations, commission income is derived by a real estate agent when the right to receive it arises as a debt due and owing irrespective of when it is actually received. The terms of the contract or arrangement entered into between the vendor and agent will be a major consideration in determining when the commission income of an agent is derived. If the payment of the commission has matured into a recoverable debt, and the agent is not obliged to take any further step before becoming entitled to payment of the commission, the income has been derived. This would generally occur when the commission income is available for transfer from the statutory trust account to the agent's general account.