State Government extends stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan apartments for another year

HOMEBUYERS will be eligible for stamp duty concessions on off-the-plan apartments, anywhere in the state, for the next year.

• Adelaide stamp duty cost ‘out of control’

HOMEBUYERS will be eligible for stamp duty concessions on off-the-plan apartments, anywhere in the state, for the next year.

Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis has announced that next month’s state Budget will include a $7.6 million commitment to extend stamp duty concessions for off-the-plan apartments until June 30 next year.

The concession of up to $15,500 was due to expire at the end of this month.

It previously applied only to properties in the CBD and inner-city suburbs but will now be available statewide.

Mr Koutsantonis said 585 homebuyers had taken up the concession in the past year and he hoped South Australians would “rush out and take advantage” of the extension.

“Places like Lights View ... like Tonsley ... places throughout regional South Australia will now become eligible,” he said.

“At the off-the-plan stage, before any construction, you get the full amount (of the concession).

“The concession wears down for apartments that are already built because we’re trying to stimulate as much (construction) activity as possible.

“It’s important that people who want to get in and buy an apartment sign up quickly because the Government will be withdrawing this concession on July 1 next year.”

The property sector has welcomed the move.

Mr Koutsantonis said the Budget, to be delivered on July 7 in the week following the federal election, would be “all about jobs”.

“We have an unacceptable level of unemployment,” he said of the current 6.8 per cent rate.

“We need to create jobs. We need to do more.”

Homebuyers will be eligible for stamp duty concessions on off-the-plan apartments, anywhere in the state, for the next year. Picture: Thinkstock

The Advertiser revealed today that the Government would also extend the small business payroll tax rebate, which was due to expire at the end of this month, until 2020.

It will deliver payroll tax relief of up to $9800 a year for SA businesses with a payroll of $1.2 million or less.

Mr Koutsantonis said the extension would encourage employment growth but Opposition Leader Steven Marshall argued it only maintained the status quo and was unlikely to encourage employers to create jobs.

Mr Marshall called on Mr Koutsantonis to rule out introducing any new fees, charges or taxes.

“Payroll tax relief is a good start, but the Government cannot give with one hand and take with the other by introducing new taxes in the state Budget,” he said.

“The Weatherill Labor Government must not follow their (interstate) Labor counterparts’ lead and introduce new taxes here in South Australia.”

However, Mr Koutsantonis said he would not “play the rule-in, rule-out game”.

Responding to the stamp duty concession extension, Property Council of Australia SA executive director Daniel Gannon said it would further stimulate the property and construction sector.

“Any assistance for first home buyers is a housing affordability measure at a time when affordability is becoming out of reach,” Mr Gannon said.

“While residential stamp duty abolition is the end game, this announcement is a positive step in the right direction for developers and buyers.

“After all, stamp duty on residential property transfers has increased by 537 per cent since 1995, which makes it harder for young people to get into the market and discourages older South Australians from downsizing.”

Master Builders SA chief executive officer Ian Markos said his organisation had been calling for such an extension in pre-Budget submissions over a number of years.

“There is no doubt that the concessions have helped trigger new activity for South Australia’s building and construction industry, so extending that same concession throughout Adelaide is a welcome development,” Mr Markos said.

“Cutting stamp duty also provides a significant boost to affordability (because) buyers aren’t borrowing to pay a tax, and then paying interest on those borrowings.”

Urban Development Institute of Australia SA executive director Pat Gerace said the expansion of the concession would “allow more choice for those who are downsizing or trying to get into the market but don’t want to live in the city”.

“These stamp duty concessions will make apartment properties more affordable and help more

homebuyers into the market,” Mr Gerace said.