By Varun Agarwal, co-founder of PropRetire · Published · Law as read · 3 min read
When do you start paying land tax on an investment property?
From the first taxing date you own the property on, if the land you own in that state, added together, is above the state's threshold.
Each state sets its own date, and a property bought the day after it waits for the next one. The ACT works by the quarter with no threshold, and the NT has no land tax.
What is the taxing date?
The moment a state looks at who owns what. It taxes the land you own at that moment, for the whole land tax year that follows.
In New South Wales, land owned at midnight on 31 December is taxed for the 12 months from 1 January, under section 3AL(1) of the Land Tax Act 1956. Owning it for only part of the year doesn't reduce that year's tax, as Revenue NSW sets out.
When is each state's taxing date?
New South Wales and Victoria run land tax by the calendar year, on land owned at midnight on 31 December before it. Victoria's rule is section 36(1) of its Land Tax Act 2005.
Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia run it by the financial year, on land owned at midnight on 30 June before it. That is section 7 of Queensland's Land Tax Act 2010, section 7(1) of Western Australia's Land Tax Assessment Act 2002 and section 4(3) of South Australia's Land Tax Act 1936.
Tasmania taxes the owner at the start of the financial year, 1 July, under section 10(1) of its Land Tax Act 2000. The Australian Capital Territory works by the quarter, and the Northern Territory has no land tax.
What if you buy after the taxing date?
The property isn't taxed to you until the next one. For example, bought in New South Wales in March 2026, it is first counted at midnight on 31 December 2026, for the 2027 land tax year.
Bought in Queensland in August 2026, it is first counted at midnight on 30 June 2027, for 2027-28. The seller is assessed for the year it changed hands in.
Does every investment property pay land tax?
Only when the land you own in a state, added together, is above its threshold. Victoria adds it up under section 36(1), Western Australia under section 11(1) and South Australia under section 8B(1).
For a person, the general threshold for 2026 is $1,075,000 in New South Wales and $50,000 in Victoria. For 2026-27 it is $600,000 in Queensland, $300,000 in Western Australia, $936,000 in South Australia and $125,000 in Tasmania.
How does land tax start in the ACT?
Quarter by quarter, on each residential parcel that isn't exempt, such as one that is rented or vacant. Land tax is payable for a quarter if the parcel isn't exempt on its first day, under sections 8A and 9(1) of the Land Tax Act 2004.
A home that becomes a rental is taxed from the first day of the next quarter, under section 8A(3). There is no threshold: in general, each parcel pays a fixed charge plus a rate on its average unimproved value, under section 9(3)(b). The ACT Revenue Office asks to be told within 30 days of a property becoming liable.
What if you sell during the year?
That year's land tax stays with whoever owned it on the taxing date. In Western Australia's words, "If you sell land between 1 July and 30 June, you are still liable for the land tax based on your ownership on the previous 30 June."
A contract may have the buyer pay part of it back at settlement. Is land tax deductible on a rental? covers that adjustment, and claiming land tax against the rent.
What should I keep?
Each land tax assessment, with the year it is for and the land it covers, and each contract of sale and settlement statement, for the dates a property changed hands.
The land tax calculator shows each state's rates on a land value, with every step of the working.
See it for your own rentals
What the year leaves you, after costs and tax.