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: āNSW Treasurer walks back from Perro@etās push to overhaul stamp dutyā. When asked Mr Kean said āAs the new Treasurer, I am looking at all the ways we can improve aļ¬ordability. This may be one solu:on,ā Mr Kean said. āIt could possibly be an op:on, but there are a range of op:ons.ā He went on to say other measures to improve housing aļ¬ordability without reforming stamp duty could include ādirect community grants and subsidiesā but did not expand any further. However, in a budget es:mates hearing on Thursday the 4th November Premier Perro@et again conļ¬rmed his support for the reform to stamp duty. He conļ¬rmed that he was con:nuing to push for the reform saying āI believe that an annual amount that is paid is be@er than a substan:ve upfront ļ¬gure.ā He called stamp duty āan inherently terrible taxā and āby far the most ineļ¬cient tax we have in our stateā, no:ng it was having a nega:ve impact on ļ¬rst home buyers in par:cular.
The diļ¬culty for the government is that in a hot market, the stamp duty and housing aļ¬ordability issues are magniļ¬ed. Premier Perro@et said āThe 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.ā Obviously if you are a ļ¬rst 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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