Before you start reading, take a break and think, did you ever wonder, 5 or even 10 years ago, that you’ll reach in your life’s journey where you are today? It can be good or bad, but I am pretty sure you evolved one way or the other.
Land tax is one such component that investors ignore early on in their journey as they think they won’t be able to do big later on. Then by the time, they realise the mistake is a costly affair to fix. For many, it becomes a part of their investment journey that bleeds their returns slowly but steadily, though it could have been avoided easily altogether.
Pro tip: The property can be in an individual’s name even if the loan is in two or more person’s names.
Someone rightly said: A penny saved is a penny earned.
Those who love to read:
What is land tax? It’s a tax charged on any land you own or co-own above a certain value threshold (which again depends on your state). This includes vacant land you’ve bought to build on or the land on which the house or unit you’ve bought is already built. As a PPoR, your home is generally exempt from land tax.[Courtesy CommBank.com.au](Remember most PPoR eventually becomes IP in the long run. Read Article: PPoR: The Dream?). Land tax on trusts works differently for different types of trusts (hopefully someday an article on TRUSTS too but not anytime soon).
Let’s understand who ends up paying Land tax: Any person who holds land above the general/premium threshold of the specific state ends up paying it. Let’s see a few of the state’s general threshold, as of 2023, to understand it better:
- NSW: $969,000 ($100 plus 1.6 percent of land value above the threshold, up to the premium rate)
- ACT: Nil (ref attached as too many slabs)
- Victoria: $300,000 (ref attached as too many slabs)
- Queensland: $599,999 (ref attached as too many slabs)
- South Australia: $534,000 (ref attached as too many slabs)
- Western Australia: $300,000 (ref attached as too many slabs)
But only if things can be this straightforward. Let’s dig in more, in terms of calculation it goes like this: If you are a single owner then the state considers you as a single entity for that land value but if the house has joint owners, then the state considers each owner as a separate entity for the value of that land. The joint owners together are called the ‘primary taxpayer’ and are assessed as if they are single owners though both will pay taxes as per their share on the property.
This is a game changer, for example, if one holds 2 IPs in Victoria whose land is worth 300k each and both are under the names of husband and wife then they end up paying land tax from the second property whereas if they bought one property on husband’s name and other on wife’s name then neither pay any land tax. Furthermore, if you play your cards correctly from the get-go and do interstate investments then you can avoid land tax altogether during your investment journey.
The big question: Why do many still end up paying land tax? We don’t take professional advice when buying(somehow real estate and professionals don’t go hand in hand for most investors, most feel they can do it themselves). Another big factor, we know as humans; most tend to downplay themselves. One doesn’t make today’s plans by keeping his self-growth in the future. They don’t realise that their income (salary, rental income, etc) will go up in the future and they can buy more in the future. Many feel like they’ll never be able to buy another house, or some say I don’t want to run after money so won’t buy more later yada yada… The main reason is that we are forecasting our future based on present circumstances like income, mindset, and scenarios. Think of it, can you survive today if you are still getting the same salaries that you used to get 10 yrs ago? If not, then why do you think you’ll get today’s salary after 10 yrs?
Other major factors also include things like, many feel it’s best to keep buying local because they understand the market plus, they can go anytime and check their IPs. Few say it’s a very small amount to pay for the peace of mind of staying local(I’ll write an article soon on buying local), but one will be amazed it’s not that small amount after all.
Say, over the years, someone bought multiple IPs in Victora:
The total value of their land in Victoria is $1.6M as of 2023
Their Tax band is $1M – $1.8M and taxable land is 1.3M (remember no tax on the first 300k)
Tax calculation = $2975(on first $1M) + (0.5% of $300k excess)
= $2975 + $2400
Tax payable = $5,376/yr
As you can see from the above example, it’s not that small, that’s year after year and one can’t do anything but pay and say THANK YOU.