NSW stamp duty rate needs updating by unconscionable state Government after 32 years: REINSW

It was time for the NSW government to correct the stamp duty brackets, according to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales. 

The REINSW President Leanne Pilkington said REINSW has continuously failed in lobbying the NSW Government in an effort to persuade them to address the punishing effects of Stamp Duty bracket creep. 

“However, to date, Government has chosen to ignore the damage these outdated tax rates are causing.

“The Government’s conduct in regard to this issue is nothing less than unconscionable”, Ms Pilkington said. 

The NSW budget is due in two months.

“The current NSW Transfer Duty brackets (other than the top bracket for residential land over $3 million) have been in place for more than 30 years. 

“The Second Reading to the 1986 Bill which on enactment increased NSW Transfer Duty rates and introduced the current base thresholds included the following statement: 

"The increased rates for conveyances only affect properties worth more than $300,000 and thus will not affect the average home purchaser”. 

“The median house price in Sydney is now at $1,179,519," she noted.

This clearly shows that the government is ignoring the market in which the current stamp duty rates were to apply. 

“Last financial year more than $7.3 billion was collected in stamp duty and to February 2018 the government has raised in excess of $4.7 billion, on par with the same amount collected in the first 8 months of that financial year.

Meanwhile Mirvac has introduced a marketing campaign aimed at first home buyers by matching the NSW Government’s $10,000 First Home Owner Grant on all apartments above the $600,000 cap.

Mirvac says its wants to sell to first home buyers who are currently missing out because their housing needs push them into a higher $600,000 price bracket, by matching the NSW Government’s $10,000 grant.

They will be permitted to exchange on a reduced deposit, paying the remainder in instalments and with priority to purchase ahead of other buyers.