Australia to triple fees on foreigners buying existing homes, penalise them if they leave properties empty
Australia to triple fees on foreigners buying existing homes, penalise them if they leave properties empty
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said ‘there are too many properties empty around Australia’ as tight supply leaves many renters struggling to find somewhere to live.
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How many properties are currently affected by this? 6 times the taxes is mentioned, but how much is that per property and in total? It's odd. This is the second time I've seen this story and that relevant information is missing in each one. It reads more like a government press release to make it look like they are doing something but it's window dressing only. We need structural reform in housing. Not just in Australia, but worldwide. It's a necessity, not an asset.
It's an ongoing fee. The initial fee is raised by 3 times, and if the property is empty for more than 6 months of the year, they are charged twice the fee (so 6 times what the fee currently is, which starts at $13200aud and is up to $105600aud depending on the value of the property)
This means it will cost tens of thousands of dollars up to hundreds of thousands of dollars, each year, to leave it empty over half the year
Yeah. The article doesn't go into details whether vacancy is self reported and what enforcement looks like.
The cynic in me says this is a great political policy, but something foreign investors will sidestep with minimal effort.
Is it based on water consumption? Leave a tap dripping.
Is it based on electricity consumption? Leave a light on.
Is it based on garbage being collected? A friend takes your bins out once every couple of months.
I want these policies to work to better support Australians with more housing options, but I'm not convinced this is enough.