Expected Land Tax 2016 and its implications

As new year passes us by, we are now preparing to get ready to pay the expected and unexpected bill .

The unexpected bill might include Land Tax.

What would be your total land tax bill this year across the nation?
What are your strategy to reduce your land tax bill legally?

 

Not that much for my personally held properties, luckily some props are in trusts or partner's name.

Partner is selling off her ACT properties where land tax is horrendous. We'll setup new trusts for buying IPs in SA from now onwards.

 

ACT government increased land tax recently by around $900 per property on top of calculated percentage. Our unit land tax went from $128 a year (which is low but lots of units on small block) to over $1000 per year - rude!

 

Houses or units DT?

 

Only ever buy houses.

 

There are 2 basic ways to reduce land tax
- spread purchases out over different states
- spread purchases out in each state over different entities = you, spouse, trusts, companies and SMSF.

Each state has different rules so what works in one state may not work in another.

NT doesn't have land tax either (yet).

 

Or become a sub-lessor