Great savings on Stamp Duty & Mortgage Duty for QLD home buyers.
Letter from the Queensland Treasurer – Hon. Andrew Fraser MP (Member for Mount Coot-tha) dated 3 June 2008
Stamp Duty Wiped out for First Home Buyers in Fraser Budget
Stamp Duty will be slashed and Mortgage Duty scrapped to give more Queenslanders greater access to the housing market – and provide savings of almost $10,000 for anyone purchasing their first house for $500,000 or less. The significant raft of tax reform – announced in today’s State Budget by Treasurer Andrew Fraser – will give a generation of Queenslanders the opportunity to break into the housing market at a time when the great Australian dream appears to be moving beyond their reach. “We’ve traversed a decade of unprecedented prosperity in Queensland but it has not been enjoyed by everybody,” Mr Fraser said. “Scores of younger Queenslanders have been locked out of the property market simply because it has risen beyond their reach. “Housing affordability cannot be solved by any one act of government but this government can assist and it will. “Through these sweeping changes, any Queenslander seeking to break into housing ownership by purchasing a home under $500,000 will be given a break by not having to pay one red cent in stamp duty on the purchase. “They will not pay one red cent in duty on their mortgage – because we are abolishing it in full on day one of the financial year. “Whether you are looking to take out a mortgage and buy a house in the growth corridors of Ipswich or Logan, the expanding suburbs of the Gold Coast, in outer Cairns, in suburbanBrisbane or in the boom story that is Mackay, you will now be able to do so under the lowest tax regime in the country.” The State Budget housing affordability initiatives make specific reform to:
�� First Home Owner Stamp Duty Abolished under $500 000:This budget increases the first home buyer exemption from $320,000 to $350,000 from 1 July 2008 and – from 1 September 2008 – to $500,000. These changes will provide savings of up to $9,500 to home buyers purchasing their first home valued up to $500,000 – stamp duty for all first homes under $500 000 will be nil from 1 September 20081
�� Home Owner Concession1 Stamp duty on purchase of $500,000 and mortgage of 80 per centQueensland currently provides a principal place of residence concession by applying a one per cent rate to the first $320,000 of the value of the home. This Budget increases the concession to the first $350,000 of the value of the home from 1 July 2008. The increased concession will ensure that less duty is payable inQueensland than in any other state on the purchase of a home valued at up to approximately $1.5 million
�� Mortgage DutyThe full abolition of Mortgage Duty will be brought forward six months to 1 July 2008This measure will further assist housing affordability by substantially reducing the upfront costs associated with taking out a mortgage. Savings are in the order of $300 on a $500,000 house2
�� Other Transfer Duty ChargesFor houses valued at more than $1 million the First Home Owners Grant will be abolished and in addition duty rates will be reformed. Ultimately, when each of these duty changes are combined, it will mean a decrease in duty on all homes valued between $320,000 and $1 million and an increase above that level.
�� Land TaxQueensland enjoys the highest threshold in the country and, at 1.5 per cent, the top marginal rate is also lowest in the nation. The amount of tax at the Land Tax threshold will be reduced from $1,200 to $500 for residents and from $2,250 to$1,450 for companies, to ensure the majority of land tax payers – residents as well as companies, trusts and absentees – will benefit from the changes.
�� Improving Housing SupplyThis budget assists with housing affordability through the planned release of $125 million this year from the Queensland Future Growth Fund for social housing as well as $9.5 million for the Urban Land Development Authority “These reforms aim to assist those locked out of the housing market. “If you want to purchase your first home for under half a million dollars: these are the facts:You won’t pay a dollar in stamp duty and you won’t pay a dollar in mortgage duty. “And that is core to our budget and core to our beliefs as a government.”
Media Contact Chris Taylor 0419 710 874Renee Mickelburgh 0458 357 539 Published by Queensland Government – 3 June 2008
