Compliance areas of focus 2026–27

Our approach

Our compliance programs focus on identifying non-compliance, protecting revenue and supporting a fair tax system for all Victorians. Learn more about our approach to compliance.

Compliance results for 2025–26

Our compliance programs delivered strong results in 2025–26. We completed more than 13,500 investigations and detected non-compliance in more than 90% of cases. This work resulted in $1.094 billion in assessed tax, including more than $56 million in penalties.

Compliance focus for 2026–27

We run extensive compliance activities across all revenue lines and grants we administer. In 2026-27, we will continue to support voluntary compliance and focus our compliance activities on areas where data and intelligence indicate a higher likelihood of error, misunderstanding or deliberate or systemic non-compliance. Our priorities will include the following.

Payroll tax

Victorian employers must register for payroll tax if they are over the payroll tax threshold. They also must lodge returns and pay payroll tax on time. Employers that fail to meet these obligations can expect continued scrutiny. In 2026–27, we will focus on employers who:

• do not correctly disclose wages, including contractor payments, employee share schemes and fringe benefits
• do not lodge their annual reconciliations on time
• should be grouped for payroll tax purposes
• engage in labour hire service arrangements.

Land tax

Landowners must check their assessments are accurate and tell us about any errors, missing information or changes in their circumstances. This includes telling us about their relationship with other landowners, whether they are still eligible for exemptions, whether they own land as a trustee and whether they are an absentee (foreign) owner. In 2026–27, we will focus on landowners who:

• should be grouped for land tax purposes
• incorrectly claim the principal place of residence exemption or primary production exemption
• do not tell us they own land as a trustee or absentee owner.

Vacant residential land tax

Vacant residential land tax now applies to all of Victoria. As a result, our areas of focus will include landowners who:

• do not tell us about vacant properties when they need to
• give false or incorrect property information, including claims for the holiday home exemption.

Land transfer duty

Duty applies to property purchases in Victoria, unless an exemption applies. In 2026–27, we will continue to target transactions with a heightened risk of underpayment or incorrect classification, including transactions:

• between related parties
• involving foreign purchasers who do not disclose their status
• that claim residence-based concessions and exemptions.

Landholder duty

Duty can apply when a person or entity acquires an interest in a company or unit trust scheme that holds significant land assets in Victoria. The same duty rates apply as for land transfers. In response to growing investor activity in Victoria’s commercial and industrial property market, our areas of focus will include:

• acquisitions in Australian companies and unit trusts with commercial and industrial land holdings in Victoria
• offshore transactions involving foreign entities that indirectly own energy, infrastructure or data centre assets in Victoria.

First Home Owner Grant

The First Home Owner Grant is available to eligible first home buyers who buy or build a new home in Victoria. We will continue to focus on applicants who give false information or ignore the eligibility rules. This includes applicants who do not:

• meet the residency requirements
• disclose their spouse or partner has previously received a grant
• disclose a prior relevant property interest.

Voluntary compliance and education

We run various voluntary compliance initiatives throughout the year, including education programs designed to help customers understand and meet their obligations.

Learn more about the many ways we offer to help you understand your state tax obligations, including our calendar of free education sessions you can register for.

Voluntary disclosure and tip-offs

We support you to get things right. If you think you have made a mistake or missed something, we encourage you to contact us or make a voluntary disclosure. Significant penalty and interest discounts apply to voluntary disclosures made prior to investigation.

We also encourage members of the community to report suspected non-compliance. We take reports of suspected non-compliance seriously and investigate matters where appropriate. If you know or suspect someone has not done the right thing, please let us know and submit a tip-off.