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.

Federal Government supports review 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.