Larry Roney and Ruth Hackett were in disbelief after they realised they had to pay, for the first time last year, $500 in land tax on a block of land they never use.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
UPDATE: Since publication of this story, the State Revenue Office has removed the land tax from this property.
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Ovens Valley MP, Tim McCurdy, says that while the Victorian Government had scrapped the land tax, the case highlighted the need to remain vigilant.
“I always suspected this was wrong from the beginning,” he said.
“Without speaking up, the owner would still be paying tax on a block that isn’t even fit for development.”
The letter from the State Revenue Office was only thin, but it bore grim tidings to the home of Larry Roney and Ruth Hackett.
When the Katamatite couple discovered last year they had been taxed $500 for a parcel of unusable land for which they had never paid a cent in land tax before, they could hardly believe their eyes.
“It just wasn’t right,” Ms Hackett said.
The retirees live on a pension, with help from the wage Mr Roney makes from working for the council two days a week.
“We’ve got to come up with that money, and we’re thinking, ‘Well, how are we going to do that?’” Mr Roney said.
Last year, they were told the two-acre lot behind their home, which they bought in 2003 for just $3000 as a bush block, had been valued at $61,500.
Before that time, they’d never been billed for the block because it was valued together with their residential block, which, as their principal place of residence, is exempt from land tax.
Landlocked and with no road access, the rear block becomes a bog when even the lightest rain falls, rendering it unsuitable for any kind of agriculture, cropping or building.
As such, Ms Hackett and Mr Roney objected to the SRO’s notice last year.
They managed to get the value of the block down to $51,000, just above the tax-free threshold of $50,000, meaning the couple have had to pay the same $500 again this year.
The couple’s block of land adjoins the back of their residential title. But with the site’s poor drainage and access, they cannot make any profit from it.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
Ms Hackett and Mr Roney said they would like the Victorian Government to remove the land tax.
“I can understand if it was a good block, and we could sell it for good money,” Mr Roney said.
“But the fact that it’s a flood zone, it’s a bush block — you can’t really do anything with it.”
Every year, land tax is calculated based on the value of the land as determined by the Valuer-General Victoria.
The Valuer-General Victoria is a statutory authority that falls under the Department of Transport and Planning through Land Use Victoria.
A principal place of residence (PPR) exemption may be available for more than one property if the land is contiguous to the PPR, does not contain a separate residence and is located in regional Victoria.
With just the slightest rain, the two-acre block becomes waterlogged and impassable, rendering it unsuitable for any profit-making endeavour.
Photo by
Owen Sinclair
State Member for Ovens Valley Tim McCurdy slammed the government, saying it was inventing figures out of thin air to squeeze more money out of hard-working Victorians.
“These inflated land valuations show just how desperate Labor is to prop up its broken budget on the backs of regional landowners,” Mr McCurdy said.
A government spokesperson said land tax did not apply to the family home or renters, or primary production land.
“The Valuer-General oversees valuations for Victorian Government property transactions and rating valuations. This includes valuations for all council rates and land tax assessments,” the spokesperson said.
“Since 2014 we have cut or abolished taxes and fees more than 57 times and increased the statewide payroll tax-free threshold several times.”
A principal place of residence (PPR) exemption may be available for more than one property if the land is contiguous to the PPR, does not contain a separate residence and is located in regional Victoria.
A spokesperson for the State Revenue Office said the SRO is unable to comment on individual taxpayer matters, but the Yarrawonga Chronicle understands the assessment has now been withdrawn.
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