Land tax in Australia by state: thresholds, rates and revenue

Most state scales apply no tax below a threshold, then increase through fixed amounts and marginal rates as land value rises. The ACT is different because it has no tax-free threshold and combines a fixed charge with marginal rates. New South Wales charges $100 plus 1.6% of the land value above the general threshold, and $88,036 plus 2% above the premium threshold⁶. Victoria charges flat amounts at the bottom of its scale, $500 for holdings from $50,000 to less than $100,000 and $975 from $100,000 to less than $300,000, then marginal rates that reach 2.65% of the amount above $3 million¹³. Western Australia's general scale reaches 2.67% above $11 million, while Queensland's separate company and trustee scale reaches 2.75% for holdings of $10 million or more¹⁴.

Western Australia also charges a metropolitan region improvement tax of 0.14% on the taxable value above $300,000 for property in the Perth metropolitan region¹⁰. The ACT combines a fixed charge, $1,778 from 1 July 2026, with marginal rates on average unimproved value that run from 0.54% to 1.26% above $2 million¹². The general scales for individuals differ from the separate trust scales and foreign and absentee-owner surcharges.

Worked example · $680,000 of taxable land in Queensland

In the Queensland Revenue Office's example, an individual whose land has a total taxable value of $680,000 pays $1,300 for the year, derived as $500 plus 1 cent for each $1 of the $80,000 above the $600,000 threshold⁹. For comparison, using the published general scales and assuming no surcharge or exemption, an owner of investment land valued at $1,500,000 in New South Wales would pay $6,900, derived as $100 plus 1.6% of the $425,000 above the $1,075,000 threshold. The same $1,500,000 of land would attract no tax in the Northern Territory and $9,150 in Victoria, derived as $4,650 plus 0.9% of the $500,000 above $1,000,000 under the 2024 to 2033 scale¹³.

New South Wales charges foreign persons surcharge land tax on residential land, and the rate has increased twice: it was 2% for the 2018 to 2022 land tax years, 4% for 2023 and 2024, and increased to 5% of land value from the 2025 land tax year. No tax-free threshold applies, and the surcharge applies even if the property is exempt from regular land tax¹⁹. Victoria's absentee owner surcharge rose from 2% for the 2020 to 2023 land tax years to 4% from the 2024 land tax year, applied on top of the general and trust surcharge rates²⁰.

Queensland applies a 3% surcharge to absentees and to foreign companies and trustees of foreign trusts, on the value of taxable land above $350,000. In the Queensland Revenue Office's example, an absentee with $400,000 of taxable land pays $3,800: $2,300 under the absentee scale plus a $1,500 surcharge²¹. Tasmania charges a 2% foreign investor land tax surcharge on the foreign-owned portion of residential-capable general land acquired on or after 1 July 2022. The ACT charges foreign owners 0.75% of average unimproved value a year, a rate unchanged since it began on 1 July 2018²². No equivalent foreign owner land tax surcharge is shown in the published land tax rate scales of South Australia or Western Australia¹⁰.

Trusts are treated separately from foreign and absentee-owner surcharges. In New South Wales, special trusts do not receive the land tax threshold and are taxed at a flat rate of 1.6% for amounts up to the premium land tax threshold, then at 2%, while a fixed trust is eligible for the threshold²³. Victoria taxes land held on trust from a $25,000 threshold under a higher scale, $82 plus 0.375% of the amount above $25,000 in its first band, which converges with the general scale at $3 million¹³. Queensland assesses trustees with the $350,000 company threshold and scale, and South Australia's trust rates start at $125 plus $0.50 per $100 above a $25,000 threshold⁷.

Joint ownership is assessed in one of two ways across New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. In NSW, joint owners of land are treated as a single entity called the primary taxpayer and can claim only one threshold for the land they own together. Each joint owner is then also assessed separately as a secondary taxpayer, with their share of the joint land added to any land they own individually. A secondary deduction applies so the same land is not taxed twice²⁴.

Victoria applies the same two-stage design: each unique joint ownership is assessed together as if it were a single owner, each owner's individual assessment then includes their share, and a formula-based deduction applies where land is assessed in both²⁵.

Queensland does not issue a joint assessment. When determining the land a person owns, the Queensland Revenue Office includes all land owned solely and any interest (or share) in land owned with others, so each co-owner's share is added to their own total taxable value. In the office's example, a 20% interest in an investment unit valued at $1,900,000 counts as $380,000 towards that owner's total².

South Australia also uses joint and individual assessments. All land held by the same registered owner or owners is one ownership. Each joint ownership is assessed first, as if it were a single owner; each joint owner is then also assessed individually on their share of that land, together with any other taxable land they own. A deduction may apply for the owner's share of land tax already assessed to the joint ownership, preventing the same land from being taxed twice. Tenants in common are assessed on the share recorded on the certificate of title; joint tenants are taken to hold equal shares⁴.