Uncertainty looms as foreigners taxed higher in Queensland budget

Uncertainty looms as foreigners taxed higher in Queensland budget
Staff reporterDecember 7, 2020

Queensland Treasury has warned of uncertainty in Brisbane's apartment market, especially if the southern markets of Sydney and Melbourne falter.

Both property taxes and mining royalties helped the Palaszczuk government revenue in yesterday's budget, with land tax receipts predicted to jump 11 per cent to $1.3 billion in 2018-19. Land tax thresholds have not been amended for a decade.

Stamp duty on transfers are estimated to rise 4 per cent to $3.2 billion, after a 5.7 per cent fall in 2017-18.

Payroll tax revenue was also expected to jump 5 per cent to $4.1 billion next financial year, with key sectors of construction, mining and manufacturing contributing to the growth, according to the budget papers.

Details revealed in Tuesday's Queensland budget indicate mining royalties are set to triple this year's expected surplus, rising from $485 million in the mid-year update to $1.51 billion.

"Domestically, uncertainty remains around the extent of oversupply in the apartment market, and any concurrent downturn in major southern capitals could exacerbate the downturn in Queensland," Treasury said in budget papers under "risks and opportunities".

Under the new taxes introduced in Tuesday's budget, foreign landowners will be slugged with an extra 0.5 per cent in land tax for properties worth more than $10 million plus an increase in the foreign transfer duty from 3 per cent to 7 per cent.

Both taxes will raise a total of $326 million over the next four years.

The First Home Owners Grant has been extended for another year, but reduced as foreshadowed to $15,000 and will not be extended to established homes.

The property sector received mixed news in the State Budget, handed down by Treasurer Jackie Trad, according to the REIQ.

“Taxing foreign buyers is a measure best suited to markets where affordability is an issue," the REIQ's chief Ms Antonia Mercorella said.

"That is not the case in Queensland."

“We have more than 550 suburbs throughout the state where the median house price is $500,000 or below and 132 of those suburbs are in Greater Brisbane.

"The REIQ was also disappointed that the State Government chose to drag its feet on stamp duty reform, ignoring expert advice that the stamp duty was a regressive, outdated form of property taxation that stifled housing mobility."

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