Last week, Western Australian residents received their most recent land tax bills and the land tax rates and thresholds have increased for the third year in a row. These changes were made in the May 2015 state budget and came as a surprise and shock to the property industry.

The Real Estate Institute of Western Australia had made state tax reform, particularly of property taxes including land tax and stamp duty, a key issue of their advocacy agenda.

When the WA Treasurer Mike Nahan announced these further imposts on land tax earlier this year, then-REIWA President David Airey came out strongly opposing the changes and criticised the state government for their reliance on the property industry to fix their budget woes.

REIWA is preparing for the next round of pre-budget submissions, and says it will continue the fight to remove any more reliance on the property industry to fix the state budget’s shortfall.

In their last pre-budget submission, REIWA called for a removal of stamp duty and a transition to a more equitable and transparent land tax regime which does not adversely affect investors.

The WA state government is due to release their mid-year fiscal outlook in mid-December. This will give the property industry a sense of where they see the economy going and provide some insight into policy decisions in the lead up to the next state budget in 2016.

reiwa.com.au