Types of owners for land tax

Your liability for land tax is based on land you own at midnight 30 June each year.

Generally, the owner of land is the person or corporation registered as the owner with the Department of Resources.

However, an owner may also include a person:

• with a legal entitlement to the land who has possession
• entitled to rents and profits from the land
• otherwise taken to be the owner; for example, through undisclosed trusts, vendor-finance arrangements, life estates or deceased estates.

Generally, an owner of land does not include:

• a mortgagee of the land
• a body corporate for land held under a community titles scheme
• an occupant of the land under a general tenancy or lease agreement.

The land tax rate depends on which of the following owner categories best describes you:

• individuals (Australian citizens, permanent visa holders and other foreign individuals who usually live in Australia)
• absentees (foreign individuals without a permanent visa who do not usually live in Australia)
• companies (including clubs, associations and societies)
• trustees (including trustees of deceased persons’ estates or superannuation funds)
• foreign companies (incorporated outside Australia, or in which foreign persons or related persons have a controlling interest of at least 50%)
• trustees of foreign trusts (where at least 50% of the trust interests are foreign interests).

There is no separate land tax rate for seniors or pensioners.

Because a person may own land, for example, as an individual, a trustee of a trust, and through a family company, they may be liable for land tax and receive a separate assessment for each of these legal entities. This is on the basis that the taxable value of all land owned in the name of each entity is above the threshold.

Find out more about how the taxable value is determined for land held in the name of separate legal entities.