Federal Government support for state
taxation reform
8 December 2004
The Real Estate Institute of South Australia Inc. (REISA) has
welcomed the Federal Government's support for further reviews of
state government taxation.
Yesterday during Question Time in the House of Representatives,
the Federal Treasurer, the Hon Peter Costello MP, highlighted
that State Governments around the country were receiving
significant windfalls from the introduction of the GST and it
was now time to consider the abolition of a number of state
taxes.
Mr Costello went on to say that the Federal Government will be
going to the Intergovernmental Council in March 2005 with
proposals to abolish additional state taxes such as stamp duty
on non-residential conveyances and stamp duty on mortgages.
Responding to this statement, REISA President, Mr Robin Turner,
said that it was encouraging that the commitment given upon the
introduction of A New Taxation System was being upheld as the
property industry is heavily taxed by state government.
“It is excellent news that the Federal Government is going to
encourage State Governments around Australia to abolish
additional taxes and REISA will be watching the outcome of these
Intergovernmental Council meetings closely,” he said.
Ultimately, the property industry would like to see stamp duty
charges on residential properties and land tax abolished or
considerably reduced, but in the interim, it is encouraging to
see that the Federal Treasurer is pushing for the abolition of
stamp duties on mortgages and non-residential property.
Property taxation really hits homebuyers and small investors
hard and it is important that this issue is not ignored by
Government.
Now that State Governments around Australia are in a stronger
financial position than they were pre GST, it is time to
commence community debate to ensure that the property industry
is supported by both the State and Federal Government.
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