Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended as follows:

(a) by inserting in subsection (1) "and subsection (3C) " after " subsection (2) " ;

(b) by omitting subsection (3) and substituting the following subsections:

(3)  For the purpose of subsection (1) (b) (ii) , a person is taken to have been occupying a property as a principal dwelling on the relevant date if –

(a) in the case of a single person, that person was in a prescribed institution and did not receive any rental income from the property; or

(b) in the case of a married person –

(i) that person and that person's spouse were in a prescribed institution and neither person received any rental income from the property; or

(ii) that person was in a prescribed institution and that person's spouse occupied the property as his or her principal place of residence.

(3A)  For the purpose of subsection (3)(a) , a person must provide a statutory declaration stating that the person –

(a) was in a prescribed institution; and

(b) did not receive rental income from the property.

(3B)  For the purpose of subsection (3)(b)(i) , a person must provide a statutory declaration stating that the person and the person's spouse –

(a) were in a prescribed institution; and

(b) did not receive rental income from the property.

(3C)  A person referred to in subsection (3)(a) or subsection (3)(b)(i) is only eligible for a remission of rates or charges for a period not exceeding 2 consecutive financial years.