Land tax compliance

This program focuses on correctly applying exemptions and thresholds, and identifying land owners who have failed to register for land tax.

Initiatives include:

• providing online services, to allow customers to view and update their land ownership details
• identifying and contacting liable landowners, who have not registered with us
• identifying and auditing land owners, who receive the benefit of multiple thresholds because of their failure to provide information relating to aggregation
• investigating and contacting customers, where information available suggests claims for exemptions are incorrect, with a focus on principal place of residence and primary production land
• contacting lessees of Crown land, who may not be aware of their land tax liability or fail to comply with their obligations
• using duties purchase transactions, to identify customers who hold land on trust
• identifying and auditing related companies, which are claiming the benefit of multiple thresholds and/or reduced tax rates by failing to declare group structures
• reviewing and investigating customers who are liable for land tax surcharge, including existing customers and new property owners
• working closely with other agencies, to better share information
• providing webinars and seminars to our customers, to better inform them of their land tax obligations
• meeting with peak industry bodies.

Common errors for land tax include:

• not advising that a property, for which principal place of residence exemption has been claimed, is leased
• incorrectly claiming a primary production land exemption where land is used as a hobby farm, or otherwise not for profit
• not listing ownership by a trust, or incorrectly listing the type of trust
• not declaring company group structures
• not advising of a change in land use
• not advising all land holdings including part interests in land
• incorrectly declaring foreign status.