As NSW Labor was adding finishing touches this week’s (Tuesday 8 June) State budget, Member for Davidson, Jonathan O’Dea was crunching the numbers on the already foreshadowed new property tax.
“This tax, levied on the sale of all properties above $500,000 will impact on at least two thirds of sales in the Warringah Council area,” Mr O’Dea said.
“According to figures supplied by APM*, 66.4% of properties in Warringah sold above $500,000 last year. However that figure will steadily rise as property prices increase.
“What makes this sneaky new tax even worse is that the higher the property value, the greater the ad-valorem tax,” Mr O’Dea said.
“Properties sold between $500,000 and $1 million will incur a 0.2% levy, which increases to 0.25% above $1 million. The result is that a $1 million sale will incur an additional $1,000 tax, while the figure for a $2 million property will increase to $3,500.
“This cash-strapped Labor Government cannot continually expect more from those who have responsibly worked hard to save for a home in an effort to make up for the billions of dollars lost by Labor through poor financial management”, Mr O’Dea said.
“In the term of the current government, more than $18 billion has been identified as wasted through poor financial decisions, including $500 million on the recently cancelled CBD Metro.
“The new short-sighted tax will make it even harder for people to both buy and sell property above $500,000,” Mr O’Dea said.
“Just as unpalatable is NSW Labor’s ‘bottom-of-the-draw’ excuse for the tax. Claims the new levy is needed to fight property fraud, ring hollow given a fund already exists and increased measures to fight property fraud were introduced last year,” he said.
“This week’s (Tuesday’s) budget must be fair on all and not continue Labor’s adverse impact on incentives to work hard and save for the future,” Mr O’Dea concluded.
*APM (Australian Property Monitors) figures for 2009 show that in Warringah only 1,036 out of 3,083 properties were sold below $500,000.
