Paying too much land tax? Two strategies to save you $$$
Are you paying more land tax than you should?
There is a tax that is becoming a real burden on people - it's land tax.
We recently had a client who was paying $25K then $40K now it has been reviewed to $80K a year.
Here are two strategies that people don’t realize can legitimately minimize your land tax. Watch the video below to find out more.
Also, If you are a tenant, you shouldn’t be paying land tax if you have a retail lease. Some people don’t realize they are a retail tenant.
Feel like you could be paying too much land tax? Send us your recent land tax assessment so we can give you a quick opinion.
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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Ross Millen:
Ross Millen (00:00):
Today I want to talk to you about a tax that's becoming quite a burden on landowners, land tax. Now, land tax has been around for a long time, but recently we had a client who was paying maybe $20,000 or $25,000. Then the next year, $45,000, and this year it's $80,000. So land tax is becoming a much more significant tax. And like all tax, you really need to plan to make sure you're not paying too much. Well, everyone's paying too much, but you're not paying more than you should. So for instance, what we've found is that there are some strategies that people don't realize that you could use to possibly minimize your land tax quite legitimately. Do you know if someone buys a property on terms and pays at least 15% as a deposit, they're considered the owner? So there may be a way to structure your affairs to use that to make someone else in your group the owner for land tax purposes.
(01:04):
Another thing is the holder of a life interest is the owner for land tax purposes, and we've used these strategies for some of our clients. Now there's tax and stamp duty implications, but we can work through those in certain cases and come up with a really good land tax solution. The other thing, if you're a tenant, you shouldn't be paying land tax if you're a retail tenant or a tenant of a retail lease. Now some people don't realize that in fact they are a retail tenant. So it'll be worthwhile for us to have a look at the lease and give you a quick opinion to make sure you're not paying land tax when you shouldn't be.
(01:44):
So all in all, I recommend that you send us your recent land tax assessments. We can have a quick look. Maybe there's nothing we can do, but maybe there are solutions to help you reduce your land tax and make sure you're only paying the amount you need to. Remember, I'm Ross Millen from Millens. We're here to help you with your land tax and other issues. Give us a call. Thanks.
