Can someone tell me what this article is about. Doesnt make any sense to me as i thought there was land tax and not property tax
Property tax creeps across suburban plainsBrian Robins
June 1, 2009 .
IT HAS always been seen as a tax paid by the blue rinse set living in the better suburbs. More people living in better-off electorates in the city's north and east may be paying property tax, but a surprisingly large number in blue collar electorates are paying the tax as well.
"Mums and dads, after they pay off their own home, put their money into property. It's something they're familiar with," Professor Neil Warren, head of the school of taxation in the law faculty at the University of NSW, said.
"Wealthier people have more sophisticated advisers," which may be why it seems that fewer people in better-off suburbs are paying the tax, he said.
Often, people in less well-off areas may not have access to the best advice to help them structure their investments, so that they've been caught in the threshold, he said.
And the downturn in financial markets over the past 12 months may also have pushed more families to put surplus cash into property, Vince Mangioni, a land tax expert at University of Technology, Sydney, said.
"Particularly with the lack of certainty over rates of return and capital gains, people are swinging back to property," he said.
And as property values in coastal areas have risen, pushing more weekenders above the tax threshold, this might be forcing more families to think of cashing out, Mr Mangioni said. "Is the weekender an affordable option?"
Figures obtained by the Herald from the Office of State Revenue show the council area with most people paying property tax is Sutherland, with 5613, followed by Ku-Ring-Gai Council with 5342 and Baulkham Hills with 4908.
But less wealthy areas, such as Bankstown and Fairfield - both of which are in the Labor Party's heartland, have large numbers paying land tax: 3333 and 2901 respectively. There are even more than 900 living in the Botany Council area paying land tax.
"Land tax is not just a Point Piper tax," the Property Council executive director, Ken Morrison, said. "It is wide-ranging, spread across Sydney and the state.
Land tax is charged at a rate of 1.6 per cent on the combined value of all land owned above an indexed threshold, at present sitting at $368,000. In the mini-budget brought down last November, the State Government raised it to 2 per cent on property holdings valued at more than $2.1 million.
But while the gap between the blue rinse suburbs and blue collar areas may not be as wide as many think, the gap between the city and rural areas in the state's west is pronounced. In Bourke, Boorowa and Murrumbidgee, you can count the number paying property tax on one hand, while Junee, Lachlan, and Weddin can be counted on two hands.
Property tax creeps across suburban plainsBrian Robins
June 1, 2009 .
IT HAS always been seen as a tax paid by the blue rinse set living in the better suburbs. More people living in better-off electorates in the city's north and east may be paying property tax, but a surprisingly large number in blue collar electorates are paying the tax as well.
"Mums and dads, after they pay off their own home, put their money into property. It's something they're familiar with," Professor Neil Warren, head of the school of taxation in the law faculty at the University of NSW, said.
"Wealthier people have more sophisticated advisers," which may be why it seems that fewer people in better-off suburbs are paying the tax, he said.
Often, people in less well-off areas may not have access to the best advice to help them structure their investments, so that they've been caught in the threshold, he said.
And the downturn in financial markets over the past 12 months may also have pushed more families to put surplus cash into property, Vince Mangioni, a land tax expert at University of Technology, Sydney, said.
"Particularly with the lack of certainty over rates of return and capital gains, people are swinging back to property," he said.
And as property values in coastal areas have risen, pushing more weekenders above the tax threshold, this might be forcing more families to think of cashing out, Mr Mangioni said. "Is the weekender an affordable option?"
Figures obtained by the Herald from the Office of State Revenue show the council area with most people paying property tax is Sutherland, with 5613, followed by Ku-Ring-Gai Council with 5342 and Baulkham Hills with 4908.
But less wealthy areas, such as Bankstown and Fairfield - both of which are in the Labor Party's heartland, have large numbers paying land tax: 3333 and 2901 respectively. There are even more than 900 living in the Botany Council area paying land tax.
"Land tax is not just a Point Piper tax," the Property Council executive director, Ken Morrison, said. "It is wide-ranging, spread across Sydney and the state.
Land tax is charged at a rate of 1.6 per cent on the combined value of all land owned above an indexed threshold, at present sitting at $368,000. In the mini-budget brought down last November, the State Government raised it to 2 per cent on property holdings valued at more than $2.1 million.
But while the gap between the blue rinse suburbs and blue collar areas may not be as wide as many think, the gap between the city and rural areas in the state's west is pronounced. In Bourke, Boorowa and Murrumbidgee, you can count the number paying property tax on one hand, while Junee, Lachlan, and Weddin can be counted on two hands.
