The High Court has dismissed an appeal by Godolphin Australia Pty Ltd (Godolphin) and confirmed that it cannot claim the primary production land tax exemption, as it was unable to show that the “dominant use” of its properties was for primary production where it also had substantial horseracing activities.  The decision illustrates the issues that can arise when primary production land is used as part of business models that include other interrelated activities.

In a major backdown, the Victorian State Government has agreed to reduce some of the impact of the recent policy shifts towards taxing general practitioners as employees for payroll tax purposes.

On 14 May 2024, the State Taxation Amendment Bill 2024 (Vic) (the Bill) was released after having its second reading speech in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

The Victorian State Government has introduced a highly anticipated bill to implement the new Commercial and Industrial Property Tax with only three months to go until the 1 July 2024 start date. Those looking to acquire commercial or industrial properties or plan restructures within existing corporate/family groups should consider the interaction of the new regime with existing taxes.

Land tax assessments are now being issued in Victoria, with landowners finding their land tax bills to be substantially higher than expected, due to significant changes from 1 January 2024.  Hundreds of thousands of taxpayers will also be receiving land tax assessments for the first time altogether.

The Federal government has introduced a bill to overcome the States’ inability to impose foreign stamp duty and land surcharges where it is inconsistent with a Double Tax Agreement.

Changes to the Victorian vacant residential land tax (VRLT) will take effect from 1 January 2025 and 1 January 2026.

As vacant residential land tax assessments for 2025 will be based on usage from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025- it is critical that landowners are across the changes now.

Expansion of the Vacant Residential Land Tax, from 1 January 2025, will start to capture holiday homes outside of inner/middle Melbourne. Therefore, holiday homeowners should consider their vacant residential land tax position.