The Land Tax Amendment Bill 2017 (Tas) has now passed all stages without amendment and awaits Royal Assent. It amends the Land Tax Act 2000 to adopt a “fairer, simpler and taxpayer favourable approach” to the apportionment of the assessed land value of principal residence land between principal residence land and general land.
The Bill introduces a single method for apportioning assessed land value between principal residence land and general land. This method will apportion the assessed land value of principal residence land by multiplying the assessed land value of the land by the area of land used for principal residence purposes as a percentage of the total land area. The Bill achieves this by replacing subss 26(2)(a), (b) and (c) with a new subsection that is essentially equivalent to the existing subs 26(2)(c). This effectively repeals the methods of apportionment in subss 26(2)(a) and 26(2)(b) of the Act which use the floor area of the principal residence dwelling, as opposed to overall land area, as the basis of apportionment.
The Bill also inserts a new subs 26(2A) to clarify that apportionment under the new subs 26(2) would be based on the total of land area plus all additional floor areas of any structures on the land above and below the ground floor (not including the ground floor).
DATE OF EFFECT: The amendments take effect from 1 July 2017.
[Tas Parliament website – Bills Digest; LTN 236, 8/12/17; Tax Month Dec 2017]