Minister Barr: Productivity Commission backs ACT stamp duty cuts
- Written by ACT Government
Released 24/10/2017
The Productivity Commission’s new report on boosting Australia’s productivity has called for state and territory governments to follow the ACT’s lead on tax reform.
The report, commissioned by the Federal Government and released today by Treasurer Scott Morrison, makes a series of recommendations to enhance national welfare and economic performance.
Among the recommendations is a call for the States and Territories to move away from stamp duty on residential and commercial properties and instead pursue a broad-based tax on the unimproved value of the land.
This is exactly what the ACT Government is doing, with our reforms having already cut stamp duty by $7,700 for a $500,000 home.
We will continue to phase out stamp duty over the years ahead, with this change helping to remove barriers to home ownership for younger Canberrans, increase mobility for other homeowners and putting the Territory’s budget on a fairer and more sustainable footing.
Mobility is a particularly important in the ACT. 2016 Census data shows that Canberrans move more regularly than people in other states and territories. More than 67,000 Canberrans lived at a different address from where they were one year ago, making up 18.6 per cent of the territory's population. More than 47 per cent of the territory population lived at a different address to five years ago.
The Productivity Commission has noted stamp duties on property transfers discourage people from moving and lead to less productive use of land. The Commission also highlighted that using stamp duty to prop up state and territory budgets puts the tax burden disproportionately onto people who choose to move, and results in a more volatile revenue base which is at the whim of the property market.
Today’s report further backs the ACT’s approach of incrementally delivering this reform over a number of years and allowing people on low or fixed incomes to defer payments until their property is sold. This is an important part of delivering our reforms which takes into account the needs and circumstances of vulnerable Canberrans.
The ACT is leading the nation on tax reform.
- Statement ends -
Section: Andrew Barr, MLA | Media Releases
