Avoid a Surprise Tax Bill on Your Holiday Home – Act Now!
Are you aware of the new Vacant Residential Land Tax? Starting January 15, many holiday homeowners on the Mornington Peninsula and beyond may face an unexpected 1% tax on their property value if their homes have been vacant throughout 2024.
There’s still time to meet the exemption requirements. Use your holiday home for at least four weeks this year, and keep simple records like receipts or utility bills to show usage. Watch this short video to understand what you need to know.
Don’t get caught off guard – reach out to our team at Millens. We’re here to help you navigate the requirements and keep your holiday home tax-free.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Ross Millen:
Hi. As you can see, I'm on the idyllic Mornington Peninsula where a lot of people have their holiday homes. And come the 15th of January next year, a lot of those people are in for a nasty shock when they learn for the first time about vacant residential land tax. Suddenly they'll find that they've got to pay a tax, which is 1% of the value of the property because it's perhaps been vacant during calendar 2024. So there's still time in 2024 to satisfy the requirements.
Now, what are they? If you've got a holiday home, you must use it for four weeks of the year. It doesn't have to be continuous, but you have to lodge an application with the State Revenue Office and claim the exemption. So you'll need to have some evidence. Have a log book showing that you and your immediate family were using the property. Also, you might be wise to get things like receipts from local restaurants when you go out, your utilities bill to show that you were actually there and using electricity for a certain period of time, and you can show that there was actual use.
Now, we're not quite sure what the State Revenue office will actually require, but those things are good to plan ahead. Now, of course, if you don't do that, then you'll have to lodge the form on the 15th of January and pay vacant residential land tax on your holiday home. And if you own it in a company or a trust, there are certain other requirements which we can advise you about. So if you've got any questions about your holiday home, about vacant residential land tax, or land tax in general, contact me or anyone else at the Millens team. We're here to help you.
