PHOTO: Stamp Duty
With the stamp duty ‘rivers of gold’ now turning into rivers of mud, state governments are looking for a more broadly-based tax system to keep their budgets afloat.
One suggestion up for debate is the prospect of nixing stamp duty in favour of broader taxes that will continue to drive income for them, year after year.
Whilst ongoing, secure funding is obviously essential to keep our state budgets healthy, I believe a broader tax policy can only be bad news for those who already own property and have already (quite literally) “paid their dues”.
I’ll explain why in a moment – but first, why has talk of abolishing stamp duty started to gain traction in the midst of a pandemic?
And what does it mean for you?
Why is stamp duty in the news?
According to the Reserve Bank Governor Phillip Lowe, the best way for the nation to recover from this once in a century crisis is for governments to underwrite a business-led recovery.
He’s suggesting that the way forward is to embrace the Henry Tax Review and adopt “long overdue tax reforms”, with tax reform across three pillars: income generation, consumption and land.
If I read between the lines this is actually a secret code for cutting business taxes, increasing the GST, and abandoning state-based property stamp duties in favour of land tax.
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