In the media spotlight again, land tax has been referred to as immoral by enraged investors and rightly so. As one SMH reader pointed out in a letter to the editor, it is one of the few taxes that generates a payable tax on paper profit only. At least with other taxes (capital gains, company, personal) we actually have the dollars in our hand with which to pay our fair share. In particular, self-funded retirees are being hit hard, penalized year in year out (in usually what is their lowest income producing times) for fully paid holiday investments that have been in their families for generations. I think it stinks and have always thought so. Land tax is archaic, a mere greed grab by an ill spending government who views property owners as easy fodder from which to easily generate more tax dollars. What a shame that our govt elects to take money from those who seek to remove themselves from our pension pursestrings in the first place, through investing in property after a lifetime of paying tax. Sad times indeed when retirees need to pay for ridiculous and unwarranted taxes instead of enjoying a long awaited and well deserved holiday.
In Canberra the Land Tax starts immediately on investments (no tax-free land value threshold). You can factor in $40 - $60 per week from rent for land tax. ... and then the Government wonders why rents are high as it struggles with the public housing burden!?!
This is the very crux of the problem Dave, and I think it's only going to worsen as time marches on, investors dwindle in their activity and rents increase.
