It Depends – Relevant thresholds for individual land tax

In this edition of It depends, senior associate Tom Walrut talks about how land tax applies to individuals in Queensland.

Video transcript

Hi, my name’s Tom Walrut and welcome to this week’s edition of It depends where we’ll be continuing our land tax series, and in particular, talking about land tax as it applies to individuals.

When do I pay land tax in Queensland?

When do I pay land tax as an individual? As always, it depends. You’ll pay land tax as an individual where the taxable value of land that you own is in excess of $ 600,000 and you’ll pay land tax at rates of 1.7 %, up to 2.25 % for all of the land that you own.

What land is included when assessing an individual’s land tax?

What land is included when assessing an individual’s land tax? Well, it is all the land that is owned by the individual, as at 30 June each year. Now, that can include where a individual owns   100% of a block of land, 100% of the value of that land is included in the individual’s, taxable value of land. Where the individual owns a proportionate interest in land, say  50% interest, because that individual has 50% interest with their spouse, 50% of the taxable value of that land will be included in the individual’s taxable value of land. And obviously, where land is exempt, main circumstances would be, say, a home exemption for an individual, none of the value of that particular block of land will be included in the individual’s, taxable value of land for determining their land tax liability.

How is the taxable value of an individual’s land assessed?

How is the taxable value of land determined in any particular year? Well, you usually take whatever the Valuer General has on the particular property owned by the individual. The Valuer General sets all of the values for land tax purposes and that’s what you take. Luckily, though, you are entitled to average over the past three years, whatever value the Valuer General has on the property. So, that usually operates to soften any increases in land tax over the years for the particular individual. And then thirdly, all of the land owned by the individual, including proportionate interests in land, are aggregated together to determine the total taxable value of all land owned by the individual, as at 30 June each year.

As always, we’ve got a very friendly team here at CGW, so do feel free to give us a call if you would like to discuss, your land tax liabilities. Thanks.