Do you mind paying Stamp Duty ?

There is a reason that stamp duty was meant to go the way of the dinosaurs when GST was brought in before the states did a complete about face and ****ed us all.

It's a horrific tax, the absolute worst of taxes, it's restrictive, punitive and non-productive. I have no problem with paying taxes but stamp duty is an awful tax that shouldn't exist in modern society. I'd be 100% for removing stamp duty and replacing it with a well designed land tax system, heck I'd run the damn change I support it that much.

 

Why swap a once off tax/duty payment per property for a continuing annual one?

 

Sorry, I meant GST

 

From my very limited understanding, the reason I support ditching stamp duty in favor of a annual land tax (including the PPOR) is that when the cost of changing properties is reduced, the asset class as a whole will become more liquid and thus allow easier entry / exit for all involved. It will also provide a more stable and consistent revenue stream for the government.

Will this end up costing me more as an individual... probably.

Will I pass that cost onto my tenants... if the market allows, yes.

 

Because of how those taxes work.

Stamp Duty is a tax that imparts a cost on transactions and stops business from happening (it's not limited to property either). Any tax that encourages people not to invest money is a stupid tax.

Land Tax, if correctly instituted, encourages productive use of a very finite resource (land). I personally think the main residence exemption is fine but land tax forces investors/speculators/land hoarders to actually do something productive with that land or pay a price for not doing it. Land tax is a very efficient tax which encourages development and investment, you pay it on the value of the land so you're encouraged to maximise the utility of the property rather than just hoarding it and making your tax contribution lower the longer you hold it.

I'd personally have a main residence threshold in place as well, probably phasing in at the median price as I think people should be encouraged to move to cheaper areas if they don't need to be in the most valuable areas.

 

Thanks for the advice wobbycarly - we do actually pay our credit cards off every month. I wasn't speaking about me specifically, but rather about fees/costs that others face, typically those who are less financially set up than we are. But hey, feel free to take a shot anyhow.

 

His point is correct though, the only people who pay interest on credit cards are those with no self control or discipline and the ATM fees are pure laziness and bad planning, not to mention insignificant.

They're both personal choices made by the individuals, they aren't something that negatively impacts investment decisions (outside of being wasted money...)

 

Cool, thought so.

GST probably deserves it's own thread. Any changes are difficult as they require all states and the senate to get it up. Howard did well in getting it passed - even if he had to compromise with the states and the democrats.

 

I can't believe that there are Yes votes to this, particularly on a property investment forum!

 

You mean no, right?

 

On what basis are you making this claim? 15 to 20% is not on the cards whatsoever, that is a huge number.

 

Agree completely. Stamo duty is a silly tax and should be replaced with land tax

 

It's CGT, not stamp duty, my error

 

We already have land tax though.

Who are we kidding gov will never get rid of stamp duty. Don't that make about 40 billion per year off of it or something?

 

Im talking about replacing the amount collected with a land tax that is levied on just about everyone, including owner occupiers. There would need to be some kind of mechanism to take into account those who have already paid stamp duty etc but overall it would be a much more productive tax for the country as a whole than what we have now.

 

Fair enough

Still doesn't quite make sense, cgt is often already higher. Do u mean gst?