Land tax up, but drop in overall tax burden for property

10th June 2008

The overall share of state taxes paid by the property industry will go down for the first time in almost a decade, despite land tax levies increasing by 28.1%.

The Property Council of Australia’s Steve Greenwood said the property industry’s proportion of state tax would fall from 45% to 43% in the 2008/09 year.

“Property taxation is a matter for the whole community, and – along with the slow release of new land for development and inflated infrastructure charges – has had a catastrophic impact on housing affordability,” Greenwood said.

While he welcomed the abolition of mortgage duty and measures to assist first homeowners, Greenwood said property owners remained concerned about the 28.1% growth in land tax projected in this year’s Budget.

“The government deserves credit for a range of measures in today’s Budget, but the fact is an additional $175m in land tax from the property industry will end up in the state’s coffers in the 2008/09 year,” he said.

The maximum rate of transfer duty has also been raised from 4.5% to 5.25%.

Greenwood said he welcomed sharing the taxation burden with the mining industry.

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