Understanding your vacant residential land tax assessment

What your assessment includes

If you have been assessed for vacant residential land tax (VRLT), we will send you an assessment notice.

This is a notice showing how much you need to pay for residential land that was vacant the year before.

Your assessment notice shows:

• all the vacant residential land you own in Victoria
• the taxable value (capital improved value) of each property
• applicable rate of VRLT
• any exemptions
• codes explaining how each property is treated for VRLT.

Check and pay your assessment

Check your assessment to confirm these key details:

• 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 VRLT portal within 60 days of receiving your assessment. If you don’t contact us, penalty tax may apply.

Letting us know about errors or omissions means we can update your assessment and ensure you pay the right amount of tax.

Notify us via the portal

If your assessment is correct, you can pay in full or in instalments.

Types of assessments

Individual

If you own vacant residential land on your own, you will receive an individual assessment. It should not include any land you own jointly with others.

Joint

If you own vacant residential land with others, we will only send one assessment to the joint owner you nominated when you made your notification.

Trust

Individuals or companies who hold taxable land as the trustee of a trust will receive an assessment that shows they are being taxed as the trustee. The trustee will receive an assessment for each different trust that owns taxable land.

Before 2025

Assessments for 2024 and earlier list all the vacant residential land you own in the 16 council areas where VRLT applied: Banyule, Bayside, Boroondara, Darebin, Glen Eira, Hobsons Bay, Manningham, Maribyrnong, Melbourne, Monash, Moonee Valley, Merri-bek (formerly Moreland), Port Phillip, Stonnington, Whitehorse and Yarra.

2025 onwards

Assessments for 2025 onwards list all the vacant residential land you own in Victoria.

Codes

Codes relating to VRLT exemptions and concessions.

• HOL – Property is exempt as a holiday home.
• WRK – Property is exempt as land occupied for purposes of attending place of business or employment.
• TFR – Property is exempt as ownership of the property was transferred to you during the preceding year.
• CON – Concessionary rate applies to new residential land unused, unoccupied and unsold for more than 3 years.
• RES1 – Property is exempt as it became residential land during the preceding year.
• RES2 – Property is exempt as it became residential land in the second preceding year and has not been used, occupied or changed ownership.
• RES3 – Property is exempt as it became residential land during the third preceding year, has not been used, occupied or changed ownership, and there were genuine efforts to sell.
• HAB – Property is exempt as construction or renovation to make the land habitable started and finished during the preceding year.
• ADJ-HOL – Property is exempt as land adjoining a holiday home.
• ADJ-PPR – Property is exempt as land adjoining your principal place of residence.
• DEV – Property is exempt as land cannot be used or developed for residential purposes.
• UNH – Property is exempt as land with a residence that is under construction/renovation or uninhabitable at any time during the preceding year.

Calculating VRLT

VRLT is based on the land’s capital improved value. But the rate of tax depends on the period the land has been liable for VRLT and other circumstances such as whether it has been previously used and occupied or sold.

There is no threshold or COVID levy.

1% of capital improved value

The following lands will be assessed at the rate of 1% of its capital improved value:

• Land in metropolitan Melbourne that has remained undeveloped for a continuous period of 5 years or more and is capable of residential development.
• New residential land unused, unoccupied and unsold for more than 3 years.

All other land

Before 2025, VRLT was 1% of capital improved value for all properties.

Estimate what you owe using our VRLT calculator.

Valuations

Capital improved value is the value of the land, buildings and any other capital improvements.

Valuations are made by the Valuer-General.

Your VRLT assessment shows the capital improved value of the vacant residential land you own.

If you disagree with your valuation, you can lodge an objection.

You must lodge your objection within 2 months of receiving your assessment.