Tax break promised for domestic violence victims

Victims of domestic violence fleeing abusive ex-partners will be exempt from paying land tax bills in a new tax break, the Allan government has announced.

The Allan government will introduce formal tax exemptions for family violence victims after it was revealed women escaping abusive ex-partners were being hit with hefty land tax bills.

But concerns are still being raised that women fleeing their abusers will be forced to go into battle to prove their dire circumstances, as a Bayside family violence victim comes under pressure to sell her only home after the state government refused to waive $77,000 worth of land tax bills.

The Herald Sun revealed in June last year that homeowner victims who registered a new address after escaping their abusers were being forced to self-identify and re-tell their traumatic stories to seek for notices to be waived.

Conceding the current legislation is flawed, a state government spokesman said the introduction of formalised tax exemptions would “clearly outline how victim survivors can access relief”.

He said further details would be announced in the coming months, noting that victims can currently apply for ex-gratia relief.

Allan government will introduce tax exemptions for family violence victims. Picture: David Crosling

The commitment, however, comes as a family violence victim, too frightened to reveal her identity publicly, was forced to move back into her former family home after unknowingly accumulating a mammoth land tax bill.

The woman racked up the $77,000 bill after moving tenants into her Bayside home so that she could afford rent at a nearby property, where she hid from an abusive family member.

But the woman said she was forced to kick out her tenants and return to the former family home, where she now lives on her own, to halt the growing bill.

Living in fear, she told the Herald Sun she now sleeps with her clothes on, rather than pyjamas, locks her bedroom door at night and sleeps with her keys beside her in case he breaks in.

“I worry about having to escape in the middle of the night,” she said.

The woman, who had kept her rental addresses private out of fear, said when she finally received a call from the State Revenue Office last year she believed it was a mistake.

Despite informing the SRO of her situation, including proof of a court order against her abuser, the government has refused to give the woman an exemption.

A family violence victim, was forced to move back into her former family home due to her $77,000 land tax bill. Picture: Supplied

“If I have to pay this, I’ll have to sell my home – it’s my only home,” she said.

“I can’t stay because I’m scared, I can’t leave because I’m going to face more tax.”

Shadow treasurer James Newbury, who has written to the Premier several times about the case, said any proposed changes to exemptions would fail to fix “the root problem” – the government’s “desperate reliance on overtaxing”.

“The big question is how has it taken ten years for a government that parades around claiming to care about domestic violence victims, to realise they have been ripping off those victims for a decade?” he said.

A government spokesman said: “While we are unable to comment on individual taxpayer matters – we do not want a system that causes any harm to victims of family violence.”