Kristine, not sure if it is the case in Vic but in SA 1+1=3. A married couple have the chance to hold property together and both individually so they get three tax free thresholds. Sure is an advantage when well down the track.
Gools
Hi Gools
Yes, looking at our Assessments, it is the 3 x thresholds which have reduced the pain somewhat
Each purchasing entity - as Natural Persons - has it's own threshold
Bludger, yes I agree that over the life of the investments, once the threshold is surpassed the Land Tax can accrue to a considerable amount
However, when it is all said and done, I would prefer to have the investments than to not have them
Our long term plan had been to run with the accrual stage as long as possible, to allow the longest possible consolidation stage, before we move inexorably into the 'cull the herd' stage to provide for cash flow for what we hope is a very long and well fed retirement
But - and there is always a 'but’ - because property investing is a sort of logarithm-ic rather than a deliberate straight line plan of accumulation, the accumulation stage has no clear boundaries and therefore the cash flow is still flowing in to the portfolio because we have kept on buying!
Throw in another $xx,000 in cash input each year and it can be a tad inconvenient!
However, it is not a tax that any government is going to do much about as it affects only a relatively small part of the population. Commercial tenants with Dazz-type leases have to wear it, not the residential tenants and not the tenants of small commercial properties such as we have due to the provisions that Land Tax can be passed on only on a single holding basis. Our commercial properties do not individually exceed the single holding threshold so we have to pay for that, too.
So that is my gripe over for another year - and another factor to keep in mind when we cull the herd.
Cheers
Kristine