State Taxation Acts and Other Acts Amendment Act 2023

Published on 12 December 2023

The State Taxation Acts and Other Acts Amendment Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 12 December 2023.

The Act introduces several changes to Victoria’s taxation laws, including:

• expanding vacant residential land tax (VRLT) to all vacant residential land in Victoria from the 2025 tax year, subject to applicable exemptions
• applying a new progressive rate of VRLT from the 2025 tax year to non-exempt vacant residential land based on the number of tax years the land has been liable for VRLT
• expanding the definition of vacant residential land from the 2026 tax year to include unimproved residential land that has been unimproved for 5 years or more in established areas of metropolitan Melbourne, subject to exemptions
• prohibiting land tax apportionment between a vendor and purchaser under a contract of sale of land from January 2024, except for high-value property transactions
• prohibiting windfall gains tax from being passed on to a purchaser under a contract or option agreement entered into once a windfall gains tax liability has been assessed, from January 2024
• changing the frequency of some reporting requirements, including foreign purchaser additional duty exemption reporting and absentee owner surcharge exemption reporting (from 6 months to 12 months).

Find out more about the changes.