Good news for WA homeowners last week, with tax relief measures announced in their State Budget including the abolition of stamp duty on mortgages and non-real business property.
In addition, the Government is providing land tax and metropolitan region improvement tax relief worth about $37 million a year through adjustments to the scales.
"The Government is providing further land tax relief, including raising the minimum threshold from $130,000 to $150,000 - freeing more than 17,000 taxpayers from land tax and addressing bracket creep," State Treasurer Eric Ripper said.
The new scales will see the lowest threshold increase by $20,000 from $130,000 to $150,000, the second threshold increase by $100,000 from $290,000 to $390,000, and the third threshold increase by $125,000 from $750,000 to $875,000.
Other taxpayer-friendly measures in the 2006-07 State Budget include:
- a two-year land tax concession for people building new homes;
- providing land tax and rates relief for parents, grandparents or siblings who provide homes for relatives with disabilities;
- helping low-income earners purchase a home with stamp duty relief for further interest in shared equity housing; and
- encouraging property donations to charities by changing the liable party for duty on gifts from the donor to the recipient.
Mr Ripper said the decision to extend the land tax exemption for building new homes reflected the pressure the current boom is placing on the construction sector.
"Evidence from the real estate and building industries suggests it is taking more than 12 months to construct a home, due to high demand and skilled labour shortages," Mr Ripper said.
"Doubling the land tax concession to two years significantly reduces the risk of people incurring land tax bills while waiting for their new home to be built. Thousands of Western Australians will qualify for an exemption thanks to this change."
The Treasurer said providing land tax relief for Western Australians who had relatives with disabilities removed a disincentive for providing private accommodation for people with disabilities.
"Parents or certain other family members who provide an independent principal place of residence for relatives with disabilities are currently required to pay land tax on that property," he said.
