QLD backs down on Australia wide land tax assessment.
In September 2022, we advised clients and contacts of a some changes to land tax liability in Queensland which were set to take effect on 30 June 2023 following the assent of the Revenue Legislation Amendment Act 2022 on 30 June 2022. The Queensland Government has since backed away from an amendment that would have seen the land tax rate for investment property in Queensland assessed on the value of the investor’s Australia wide land holdings from 1 July 2023, not just the value of their Queensland property.
The proposed changes would have seen 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 required the landholder to declare their interstate landholdings and data from other sources to verify the landholdings. The end result would have seen many investors being tipped into a higher land tax rate.
QLD Land Tax Changes Shelved
If you’re a property investor or renter, you can let out a sigh of relief. The Queensland Government doesn’t have access to property ownership records from the other states. So, following the National Cabinet Meeting on 30 September, Premier Palaszczuk rescinded the reform as it relied on the “goodwill of other states, and if we can’t get that additional information, I will put that aside.” New South Wales Premier, Dominic Perrottet, was particularly vocal about his objection to handing information over.
The “dumping” of the land tax changes is a welcomed decision for both property investors and the impact it would have on renters.
