Stamp Duty: Victoria reduces land stamp by 50 while NSW stalls

You may have heard of the pending changes to Stamp Duty in VIC and NSW.

Victoria has opted for a stamp duty concessions to stimulate property market activity following it’s COVID closures in late 2020. The discount applies to contracts entered into on or after 25 November 2020 and before 1 July 2021. This means that if you’ve been thinking of investing in VIC, you have three months to capitalise on this. For the full details, please click on the link at the bottom of this message. In summary:

For new residential properties, a 50 land transfer duty waiver of the duty otherwise payable applies.
For existing residential properties, a 25 land transfer duty waiver of the duty otherwise payable applies.
For vacant residential land, a 25 land transfer duty waiver of the duty otherwise payable applies.

In New South Wales, it’s estimated to take 12years to save for a deposit (compared to 8 years in 1990) and 2.5 years to save for stamp duty (instead of 1 year in 1990). To reduce the burden, the proposed stamp duty reform in NSW suggests an option of paying the upfront stamp duty OR to pay an annual property tax, which would be in addition to any Land Tax you pay as an investor. The consultation on proposed changes has closed so we wait in anticipation for the NSW Govenment announcements.

In the meantime, if you’d like to make the most of the savings in VIC or NSW, please call us on 1300 449 974.