Stamp duty, land tax and pay-roll tax changes
New tax concessions on stamp duty and land tax were announced on 28 October, 2004.
Changes have also been announced to pay-roll tax.
The key initiatives are:
- an immediate 10 per cent cut to stamp duty on all property conveyances: costing $391million over four years, the top conveyance duty rate falls to 5.4 per cent. It follows a five per cent cut in the last Budget. This means the stamp duty payable on a median priced home ($240,000) will fall by $922 to $7,816. Savings for a $300,000 home will be $1,270 and for a $400,000 home $1,870;
- the immediate abolition of stamp duty for first homebuyers on property conveyances for homes valued up to $250,000 and land valued up to $150,000: costing $44million over four years, approximately 74 per cent of first homebuyers will pay no stamp duty and a further 17 per cent will pay partial duty; and
- all land taxpayers will receive a $150 reduction in their land tax bill through an adjustment to the land tax scales: costing $83million over four years - 64,000 property investors (or more than half) will receive an average 70 per cent reduction in the land tax component of their bills. The initiative will come into effect on July 1, 2005.
- Pay-roll tax is to be reduced to 5.5 per cent from 1 January 2005. This measure will result in all businesses paying 8.3 per cent less in pay-roll tax, with the average benefit per employer of nearly $12,000 a year.
- As well, 5000 medium-sized businesses will be allowed to lodge pay-roll tax returns on a quarterly or annual basis, not monthly.
Government Statements:
Stamp Duty and Land Tax Cuts
Pay-Roll Tax changes |
For further information on the initiatives, check the links below
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