State Budget 2018: Tax hit for foreign buyers of Tasmanian land

Treasurer Peter Gutwein said a new 0.5 per cent tax on foreign investment in agricultural land is the first one in Australia.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein said a new 0.5 per cent tax on foreign investment in agricultural land is the first one in Australia.

“We are the only state or territory in the country that actually does apply a surcharge to agricultural land so we have taken a step that others haven’t yet,” he said.

“It is about ensuring that the state receives appropriate revenue from investors.

“Foreign investors don’t pay a lot of other state taxes.”

Mr Gutwein said the Government had also introduced a Foreign Investor Duty Surcharge at a rate of 3 per cent.

Mt Roland near Sheffield. Foreign investors face a new tax if they want to buy Tasmanian land. Picture: CHRIS KIDD

He said the FIDS was about “levelling the playing field”.

“There is great interest in Tasmania at the moment and by their nature foreign investors don’t pay a lot of other state taxes,” he said.

Mr Gutwein said that other states had set a rate at 8 per cent compared with the Tasmanian rate of 3 per cent.

The FIDS and primary production land tax will contribute to a burgeoning conveyance duties of $297.7 million in 2018-19-up from $258 million in 2017-18