Stamp duty: Property Council renews push to scrap Sydney’s most hated tax
IT’S a major hurdle preventing Sydneysiders from getting into the property market and on average costs families $35,000. Now the days of the despised stamp duty could be numbered.
NSW
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NSW PROPERTY buyers, including thousands of struggling first-time homeowners, have forked out nearly $60 billion in stamp duty since 2000 and are on track to spend another $9 billion propping up the Baird Government’s budget this financial year.
The mind-blowing totals have been revealed as the Property Council renews a push to scrap the despised and inefficient tax ahead of this week’s Council of Australian Government meeting in Sydney — which will discuss an increase to the GST.
“The NSW government is reaping record gains from the growing stamp duty impost at the expense of homebuyers, housing affordability and the economy,” said NSW Property Council boss Glenn Byres.
“Relying on homebuyers to bankroll the state’s budget hurts families and stops the NSW economy from reaching its full potential.”
Higher-than-expected stamp duty revenues helped the Baird government to a final $2.9 billion surplus last financial year and homebuyers, including battling young couples, are once again doing the hard yards for the state budget.
The government raked in a record $753 million in residential and non-residential land transfer stamp duty during September, followed by a whopping $730 million in October, despite mild pressure on the local housing market.
The state government forecast almost $8 billion in stamp duty revenue for 2015/16 but the current trend suggests it will be nearer $9 billion.
State and territories are expected to collect a combined $20 billion in stamp duty this financial year.
In Sydney, the average residential stamp duty bill has rocketed 749 per cent from $4685 in 1995 to $35,000 in 2015, adding to the already massive strain on first-time buyers.
An analysis of budget records shows that $57.6 billion has been collected in NSW property stamp duty since 2000 — with revenues rocketing from $3 billion per year at the turn of the century to just over $7 billion last financial year.
The Property Council wants stamp duty scrapped and the lost revenue made up from a broad range of tax reforms, including an increase to the GST.
The Baird government has indicated a willingness to discuss stamp duties but has said any change must be accompanied by broader tax reform.
“We have said all along that we are open to reforming state taxes to make them more efficient and fair,” said Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian.
“But reform must occur holistically and in the context of any broader reform of federal-state financial relations.”
The Baird government argues that increasing housing supply is the most effective way to tackle housing affordability.
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