NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet today released a Progress Paper on the Government’s property tax proposal, which brings together feedback and submissions from the community and stakeholders received over the past six months.
The Progress Paper also provides additional detail on the proposed reform, which would give prospective homeowners the choice to pay stamp duty or a small, annual property tax when they purchase their new home.
Mr Perrottet said the NSW Treasury “Have Your Say” website received more than 23,800 visits with 3,544 surveys completed since the proposal was announced last November.
At the same time we received 57 detailed submissions from industry stakeholders and 196 community submissions.
“We are proposing a once in a generation reform to make home ownership more affordable and achievable, and the engagement and interest from across all segments of the community has been significant and heartening,” Mr Perrottet said.
“A core component of our proposal has been to ensure we consult widely and the initial discussion paper launched in November has allowed us to see what different segments think. I thank the community and stakeholders for their engagement so far.”
Key findings of the consultation period include:
- A strong view that reform of the existing system is needed;
- The proposal resonates strongly with first home buyers struggling to save for a deposit and also pay stamp duty;
- Some stakeholders have concerns about how any reform could impact them;
- The annual nature of the proposed tax raises uncertainty over potential rate increases over time;
- The proposal would benefit people seeking greater mobility who would not be faced with significant transfer duties each time they purchase a property, and
- The more people learn about the proposed reform the more comfortable and supportive of the proposal they became.
“The first round of consultation and submissions showed 84 per cent of people believe stamp duty reform is needed and two thirds of the community said stamp duty was a significant barrier to home ownership,” Mr Perrottet said
“Making changes to the property tax system is highly complex and we want to make sure we get this right.
“We will continue to listen to the community and invite further feedback on the additional information contained in the Progress Paper over the coming weeks.”
Visit www.nsw.gov.au/property-tax-reform to read the Property Tax Reform Progress Paper, view the detailed submissions and the results of the “Have Your Say” survey.