Land tax , is it combined between all states ?

Is the land tax threshold combined across all states ? Or does each state have its own land tax threshold and assuming your not over the threshold in any state then you dont pay anything??
Cheers

 

Each has their own, but you should check out the relevant requirements in the state(s) you want to buy in

 

Not in WA

 

Are you saying WA had no land tax ???

 

Ok so they arent combined thats great

 

No. However QLD has recenly announced a intention to somehow apply interstate property holdings against its threshold. The legislation and just how it proposes to do this remains very unclear. Such a policy would need access to private tax data which cant be shared. I will expect a constitutional challenge too since the "effect" of the proposal will additionally impose QLD tax beyond that of the land within the state. So while its not "taxing" interstate property the effect is that it does.

If QLD are succcessful its also possible oher states could repeat the QLD example. They would says its a "uniform change". Ironically if they did that then what value is a threshold ? Perhaps the end game is states will drop the tax free threshold and instead impose a phased in low rate for the first $X of land. Who knows. In NSW the "tax free thershold" isnt actually tax free. There is a $100 charge for its use once the full threshold is utlised......Interesting to see how that plays its role. Will it limit QLD's ambitions ?

 

I see i hope not , so is it possible to ride off land tax ?
One other question for you since your a tax accountant, for example say for all my property repairs etc i get the property manager to use the rent money and pay for it and she just adds it to my end if financial year statement i get for my investment property and i go to your office would i then still need the invoices even though all the expenses would be added to the statement ??
Thanks

 

Your PM should attach the invoices to the rental statements. If they don't, ask them for the invoices.

 

I dont understand the comment :

The agent will have the invoices and normally attaches a copy to the monthly account as proof of the outgoing. Its normal that we consider higher value agent paid ""repairs"" to ensure they are deductible as sometimes they include depreciable issues or even initial repairs. Agents dont distinguish between capital expenses and will commonly call all things repairs & maintenance. And they arent able to assess deductibility.

 

Each state has its own threshold, and way of calculating it. Each state also has different rules on how couples and trusts etc are viewed.

So in my view, its worth diversifying between states to minimise land tax. Its also worth getting professional advice on which person/entity to put each property purchase in.

 

It's a silly system in my opinion! It should be a higher level and federal.

 

States can tax property. Commonwealth has no constitutional power (s51(ii) Australian Constitution)

Same with payroll tax and other state taxing issues. There is some uniformity but not a lot. Stamp duty comes to mind as incredibly complex and diverse.

 

Need to tax us on everything ..

 

Just got my land tax bill today.. bloody thing has gone from $2200 to $8000 in 5 years (One NSW property). Highway robbery !

 

Two things count against you - wasn't the last boom 2016-17ish? The LVs are averaged over 3 years so you've copped 2 booms in the current decade. The other is you're not a Strayan resident, so you get hit harder.

 

The foreign person surcharge element may be a large proportion of the difference.

NSW uses a three year smoothed average system which takes the immediate leap in land tax out of it to some degree. That said the threshold is also indexed so as land value "leaps up" so does the threshold !!

 

Don't think being non resident makes any difference in NSW if you're an Australian citizen?
I think the main reason tax has quadrupled in 5 years is house is in Byron Bay, and that 3 year averaging means an even bigger jump next year.

 

The term foreign resident is the defining term in NSW law (and Vic). Yes this excludes a citizen.

Please, dont complain about rising values if its in Byron. Its one of the "boom" regions. And has been a long time. I can recall a clients 20 years back quadrupled their property value at Marine Dr Watego's. It went from $250K to $1m back then in a short time when Byron was discovered. Sadly they decided against also buying next door as it was very expensive at $1.3m. A few short years later their (beach)house was worth $3m and climbing. They would be asked almost weekly to sell with generous offers. I wonder now home much above $15million they are each worth now ? Its the area where the likes of Matt Damon are putting large values down ie $22m rumoured purchase. And thats often not beachside.

 

I'd be sooooooooooooooooooo happy if my land tax was $8000. LOL

I'm almost 5 x that now. Lucky I make a very high salary so its all a tax write-off and my property portfolio I calculated grew at a conservative $400k last month - that's a way for me to justify this ludacris amount I'm paying.

After I ride the wave I really need to work on strategies to minimise my land tax. It will kill me long term but I'm not planning to hold this many properties in retirement.

 

It's only going to get worse with time, and leave you with less disposable income
I guess the appreciation of your property portfolio may outweigh the land tax expense (which you are negatively gearing against your income any way), but is there any other way to capitalise that gain besides selling at the right time?