Queensland Government Scraps Proposed Land Tax Reforms
The Queensland Government has scrapped the proposed land tax reforms amid concerns that investors would lose confidence in the Queensland market. The new proposal would have allowed the Government to include the value of investment properties owned in other states when determining the amount of land tax owed. Under the current system, only the value of investment properties located within Queensland are considered when calculating land tax.
The current system of land taxation in Queensland has been in place for many years and has only recently been identified as a possible tax loophole. Property owners have been able to have their portfolios spread across different states and under tax-free thresholds to avoid paying more tax. The proposed changes would have significantly increased the amount of tax paid by some investment property owners, which would have likely led to many of them selling up and leaving the state.
The proposed changes to the laws have been seen as a cash grab from the government and a slap in the face to Investors who have been helping to prop up the QLD economy for some time. Whilst accepting the decision of Premier Palaszczuk to back down, the QLD Treasurer, Cameron Dick stands by his stance on the land tax reform.
For the tax reforms to work, it would take a collaboration between state governments to release information about investors’ holdings. As it stands, the QLD Government doesn’t have access to records from other states, but the leaders from other states resisted the change. New South Wales Premier, Dominic Perrottet was very vocal about his thoughts on the new tax reforms and was quoted as saying “This is a tax implemented by a state that impacts the residents of NSW. It’s wrong, and we’re not going to comply with it. This is poor financial management by a Labor state government impacting the residents of NSW. No one is safe across the country from Labor’s taxing. They’ve gotten over taxing their own residents and are now trying to tax everybody else across Australia.”
Without the sharing of information from the other states, there was no chance the new land tax reforms would work and as such the Premier has had to scrap them. The team at QC Law are experts in everything property law and can provide a professional, fixed-fee service to all our clients. At QC Law we strive to be your lawyers for everyday life. Contact the team at QC Law for all your legal needs at [email protected]
The current system of land taxation in Queensland has been in place for many years and has only recently been identified as a possible tax loophole. Property owners have been able to have their portfolios spread across different states and under tax-free thresholds to avoid paying more tax. The proposed changes would have significantly increased the amount of tax paid by some investment property owners, which would have likely led to many of them selling up and leaving the state.
The proposed changes to the laws have been seen as a cash grab from the government and a slap in the face to Investors who have been helping to prop up the QLD economy for some time. Whilst accepting the decision of Premier Palaszczuk to back down, the QLD Treasurer, Cameron Dick stands by his stance on the land tax reform.
For the tax reforms to work, it would take a collaboration between state governments to release information about investors’ holdings. As it stands, the QLD Government doesn’t have access to records from other states, but the leaders from other states resisted the change. New South Wales Premier, Dominic Perrottet was very vocal about his thoughts on the new tax reforms and was quoted as saying “This is a tax implemented by a state that impacts the residents of NSW. It’s wrong, and we’re not going to comply with it. This is poor financial management by a Labor state government impacting the residents of NSW. No one is safe across the country from Labor’s taxing. They’ve gotten over taxing their own residents and are now trying to tax everybody else across Australia.”
Without the sharing of information from the other states, there was no chance the new land tax reforms would work and as such the Premier has had to scrap them. The team at QC Law are experts in everything property law and can provide a professional, fixed-fee service to all our clients. At QC Law we strive to be your lawyers for everyday life. Contact the team at QC Law for all your legal needs at [email protected]
