ARTICLE · 21 JULY 2021

Is stamp duty a thing of the past?

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Proposed new regime gives purchasers the ability to choose to pay stamp duty or to pay a smaller annual property tax.

AustraliaTax

Alexandra Haverkamp

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As part of the 2020-21 Budget, the NSW government has announced a proposal to amend the tax that applies to the purchase of properties.

The new regime, if introduced, would allow a property purchaser the ability to choose from the following two options:

Pay a one-off lump sum stamp duty amount (the current system)
Pay a smaller annual property tax.

This proposal has been introduced as a result of criticism in recent time of the current stamp duty system which can act as a barrier to home ownership given the considerably large upfront cost.

Example of the proposed system

A purchaser of a residential property for $800,00.00 would be able to elect from the following two options:

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