Make a vacant residential land tax notification

Who needs to make a notification

You must notify us by 15 February 2026 if you own certain residential land in Victoria that was vacant in 2025.

You can make a notification through our portal.

Vacant residential land tax (VRLT) may apply if you own:

• a home that was vacant for more than 6 months in 2025
• a home that has been under construction or renovation, or uninhabitable, for 2 years or more
• land in metropolitan Melbourne [link to bookmark on ‘understanding VRLT’ page listing relevant council areas] that has remained undeveloped for a continuous period of 5 years or more and is capable of residential development.

You must notify us even if you believe your land is exempt. Find out more about exemptions from VRLT.

If you have made a notification in the past, you only need to make a new one if your circumstances have changed. For example, if you stop being eligible for an exemption, you need to notify us. If you have been granted an exemption, you do not need to re-apply each year.

Previous years

Failing to notify us of vacant residential land by 15 February each year may lead to penalty tax.

If you missed a previous deadline, you should make a notification as soon as possible to minimise penalty tax.

How to make a notification

Use our portal to notify us about vacant residential land.

You can pre-fill your details in the portal. You need your SRO customer number plus one of the following:

• Assessment number from a land tax or VRLT assessment notice.
• Municipal property number of a property you own.
• Reference number from a previous VRLT notification.

Make a notification via the portal

After you notify us

Once you make a notification, you will receive a confirmation email, including a copy of your submission.

If you are liable for VRLT, you will receive an assessment via email or post, depending on which option you chose in the portal.

Joint owners

You can notify us about multiple properties in one submission.

But if you own properties under different ownership structures, you need to make a separate submission for each ownership structure.

On the ‘land owner details’ page of the portal, you only need to provide the details of one joint owner. We will send all future VRLT correspondence to them.

Apply for an exemption

You can also apply for an exemption when you make a notification through the portal.

We will let you know the outcome of your exemption request before we send you an assessment. You will not receive an assessment if your exemption is approved, and you have no other liable properties.

Keep records proving your exemption for 5 years.

Claim an exemption via the portal

Update your details

Once you have made a notification, you can also use the portal to:

• update your contact details
• choose to receive your assessment by email or post.

Make changes to your assessment

After you receive your assessment, you should check:

• your postal address is correct
• all the vacant residential land you owned on 31 December of the previous year is listed
• any exempt properties are marked as exempt
• no properties are incorrectly marked as exempt.

If any of these details are incorrect, you must tell us via the portal within 60 days of receiving your assessment.

Nominate a contact person

You can use the portal to tell us you want correspondence sent to an authorised representative, such as an accountant or solicitor. You will need to provide their full name and contact details, including email, postal address and phone number.

If you are making a notification on someone else’s behalf and you want to nominate an authorised representative, you must also complete our change of contact details form.

Make a tip-off

If you suspect a property owner is not complying with their obligations, please send us a tip-off.