News, views and more

The Queensland and NSW State Governments have begun to move on property-based taxes to make the system fairer for investors and first-home buyers.

Queensland backs down on Australia-wide land tax assessment

The amendment passed the Queensland Parliament and became law on 30 June 2022. The amendment would see the value of all of the landholder's Australian investment property assessed, the value of Queensland land tax calculated on taxable Australian-wide investments, then apportioned to the Queensland portion of the land. The amendment requires the landholder to declare their interstate landholdings and data from other sources to verify the landholdings. The end result is many investors being tipped into a higher land tax rate.

The Bill states, "The land tax reform is intended to make Queensland's land tax system fairer by addressing an inequity which can result in a landholder with all of their landholdings in Queensland paying more land tax than a landholder with a similar value of landholdings spread across jurisdictions."

Following the National Cabinet Meeting on 30 September, Premier Palaszczuk rescinded the reform as it relied on the "goodwill of other states, and if we can't get that additional information, I will put that aside."

Stamp duty or an annual property tax for NSW first home buyers?

First home buyers purchasing property in NSW of up to $1.5m will have a choice of paying stamp duty or an annual property tax from 16 January 2023.

The annual property tax payments will be based on the land value of the purchased property. The property tax rates for 2022-23 are:

• $400 plus 0.3% of land value for properties whose owners live in them
• $1,500 plus 1.1% of land value for investment properties.

Property tax assessments will be issued annually to home buyers who take the annual property tax option. As an example, a first buyer purchasing a $1.2m NSW property with a land tax value of $720,000, could pay stamp duty of $50,875 or opt to pay the annual property tax ($2,560 for 2022-23). The property tax rates will be indexed annually.

Eligible first home buyers who sign a contract of purchase on or after 16 January 2023 will be eligible to opt into the property tax. If the property tax option is selected, first home buyers must move into the property within 12 months of purchase and live in it continuously for at least 6 months.

The annual property tax is only applicable to the purchaser. If the property is sold, the property tax does not apply to subsequent purchasers. For eligibility details, see First Home Buyer Choice on the NSW Government website.

Legislation enabling the property tax is expected before the NSW Parliament this month. If passed, eligible first home buyers who sign a contract of purchase between the passage of the legislation and 15 January 2023 will be eligible to opt into the property tax. These purchasers will pay land stamp duty but will be able to apply for and receive a refund of that duty if they opt into property tax.

WLM can help

If you would like advice or assistance, please contact us.