An aerial photo of Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory of Australia showing the central business district and nearby suburbs.
A highly ineffective tax will be removed in the Northern Territory, a big win for the property industry and undoubtedly a success for the Property Council.
The Property Activation levy taxed a rate of one per cent taxed on buildings which have a more than fifty per cent vacancy rate and a rate of two per cent levied on vacant land.
It was getting money out of the back pocket of Territorians that were doing it tough and slapping them with a tax. Seeing this highly ineffective and populist policy abolished is a big win for our industry.
The Property Council has been advocating for this conclusion for some time now, and most recently spoke with the Chief Minister on the subject in early 2022.
We also requested that the levy be removed in a report to the government in a September 2021 submission.
Ruth Palmer, Property Council NT Executive Director
This is an historic win for the property industry in the Northern Territory.
The Property Activation Levy was a disincentive to investment in Darwin at a time when demand was declining throughout COVID-19 and there was oversupply from recent booms.
We have been advocating for this outcome for a number of years and we applaud the Government in making the decision to repeal this levy.
The Property Council NT has long advocated that the only way to address the record levels of vacancy and for genuine revitalisation is to have meaningful reforms that are led by industry.
We now have an opportunity for business, governments, and the property industry to sit down and look at the real solutions as to how we can activate these spaces and incentivise business to set up shop in the CBD.
We look forward to working with the Government in addressing the underlying causes of high vacancy rates in the CBD, including population growth and economic activation.