real estate South Coast Property Specialists (Carlene Franzen) Tips #1070:
The Stamp Duty Yoyo
Vol 16 September 15th 2017 28 April December 7th, 2017 Vol 48 27th 2018
Several months ago (15th April to be exact) we reported that the NSW government was looking at replacing stamp duty with an annual property tax. This was back in the good old days when Gladys Berejiklian was the Premier and Dominic Perrottet was the Treasurer. Now of course, Perrottet is the Premier and Matt Kean is the Treasurer.
On November the 3rd the Sydney Morning Herald published a story :tled: “NSW Treasurer walks back from Perro@et’s push to overhaul stamp duty”. When asked Mr Kean said “As the new Treasurer, I am looking at all the ways we can improve affordability. This may be one solu:on,” Mr Kean said. “It could possibly be an op:on, but there are a range of op:ons.” He went on to say other measures to improve housing affordability without reforming stamp duty could include “direct community grants and subsidies” but did not expand any further. However, in a budget es:mates hearing on Thursday the 4th November Premier Perro@et again confirmed his support for the reform to stamp duty. He confirmed that he was con:nuing to push for the reform saying “I believe that an annual amount that is paid is be@er than a substan:ve upfront figure.” He called stamp duty “an inherently terrible tax” and “by far the most inefficient tax we have in our state”, no:ng it was having a nega:ve impact on first home buyers in par:cular.
The difficulty for the government is that in a hot market, the stamp duty and housing affordability issues are magnified. Premier Perro@et said “The last 12 months, we have seen the property prices here in Sydney increase by 25 per cent, we have seen the average stamp duty bill increase by $10,000.” Obviously if you are a first home buyer these sta:s:cs create a double whammy, pushing both the house price and the deposit amount required out of reach for many.
beagle weekly : Vol 233 November 12th 2021
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