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Land Tax Relief Extended

  • September 17, 2020

LAND TAX RELIEF EXTENDED

As part of its ‘mini-budget’ the Queensland Government has announced a 25 per cent land tax rebate is available for eligible properties for the 2020-21 assessment year.

2020-21 land tax liabilities will also be deferred for 3 months, with further information on the deferral available below.

This announcement is in addition to the $400 million land tax relief package released in April, which included a 3-month deferral of land tax liabilities for the 2020-21 assessment year, a 25 per cent rebate of land tax liabilities for the 2019-20 assessment year, and a waiver of the 2% foreign surcharge for the 2019-20 assessment year.

The Property Council has strongly advocated for an extension to land tax rebates and has welcomed yesterday’s announcement.

Applying for the rebate

As with the previous rebate, landowners are required to lodge an application with the Office of State Revenue. The due dates for applications for the land tax rebate are:

  • For 2019-20, applications close on 31 October 2020
  • For 2020-21, applications close on 26 February 2021

The rebate:

  • Does not apply to owner-occupied land
  • Is only available if you owned an eligible property at midnight on 30 June 2019 and/or 30 June 2020, and were liable for land tax in relation to the property
  • Does not need to be repaid if the eligibility conditions are met.

Deferrals

  • 2020/21 land tax liabilities will be deferred by 3 months.  In most cases landowners will not receive the 2020 assessment until 3 months post the date they received the 2019 assessment.  For example, if your 2019-20 assessment notice was dated 1 November 2019 and you are liable for land tax again this year, you will not be issued your 2020-21 notice before 1 February 2021.
  • As many foreign entities didn’t receive assessments until March 2020 or later they may not receive the 2020/21 assessment until June 2021
  • Landowners can request the assessment to be issued earlier

The Property Council has written to the Treasurer on several occasions regarding the application of the rebate to new owners and owner-occupied land, however the eligibility criteria for the extended rebate remains the same.

Further details of the land tax rebate and how to apply are available on the Government’s website