"ABS Conveyancing" BiziNet™ Articles

At the time of this write up, the New South Wales (NSW) State Government is looking to bring in the United States (US) property tax to phase out stamp duty and land tax. The current system of the state property taxes consisting of stamp duty and land tax is not perfect but has the following concessions. In stamp duty, there are concessions for first home buyers. In land tax, there are the exemptions for a principal place of residence, primary production farmland, church/religious, charity and retirement/aged care properties. Strata investment unit owners do not pay land tax if under the current land tax threshold.

Property is a big investment class in Australia, and yet some property owners and investors neglect the necessity of building insurance, including adequate coverage. Strata schemes, by law, require insurance, with an insurance valuation assessment by a professional property valuer every five years or so to make sure they are adequately covered.

Not long after my book "Property & Conveyancing Made Easy" was released, both the New South Wales and Victorian state governments made similar announcements, at the same time, to review stamp duty with land tax during 2021. There has been an ongoing debate about stamp duty, once a small tax, and previous promises by opposition parties to abolish it if elected. This never happened. When the GST was introduced by the Howard Government in Canberra, their campaign was GST = Good-Bye Seven Taxes. The defunct Australian Democrats in the Senate demanded basic food grocery items, health and education to be exempt from GST as a trade-off. Those seven taxes, including stamp duty, remain.

Property is the biggest investment class for Australians, especially with tax benefits, such as negative gearing and tax depreciation allowances. Property remains the "King of investment in Australia" for such tax benefits, as other investment classes, such as shares, are a small class, especially with blue chip shares.

Whether it's an off-the-plan residential apartment, commercial, retail or industrial strata unit, you should do sufficient research before you buy. Such an acquisition, either residential or commercial, can be a dream come true or a nightmare on completion. It all depends on the level of research, checks and balances.