State Land Tax Reform
Research indicates that abolishing stamp duty and replacing it with a land tax across Australia would boost the Australian economy by about $17-20 billion per year.
Research indicates that abolishing stamp duty and replacing it with a land tax across Australia would boost the Australian economy by about $17-20 billion per year.
Whilst Western Australia has some stamp duty concessions it is proposed to facilitate a more efficient housing market that stamp duty is abolished with a move to a broad-based progressive land tax. To implement these changes a transition period is proposed to ensure the impact on current homeowners, who have already paid stamp duty is minimised. Also, to ensure ongoing affordability, considerations will need to be made for low income households during both the transition period and in the ongoing implementation of a broad-based land tax.
This could be done by progressively structuring the land tax with exemptions for lower value properties, and/or basing concessions on household income. This will be particularly important for seniors who may live in an area with high value land, but do not have access to enough income to pay an annual land tax. This reform will need to be designed in consultation with key stakeholders to fully understand the implications and implemented with care to effectively manage change.