It is time for the NSW government to correct the stamp duty brackets, according to the Real Estate Institute of New South Wales.
REINSW President Leanne Pilkington said REINSW has continuously lobbied the NSW Government in an effort to persuade them to address the punishing effects of Stamp Duty bracket creep.
“However, to date, Government has chosen to ignore the damage these outdated tax rates are causing. By doing nothing the Government is simply profiteering at the expense of the consumer.
“The Government’s conduct in regard to this issue is nothing less than unconscionable”, Ms Pilkington said.
“The current NSW Transfer Duty brackets (other than the top bracket for residential land over $3 million) have been in place for more than 30 years.
“The Second Reading to the 1986 Bill which on enactment increased NSW Transfer Duty rates and introduced the current base thresholds included the following statement:
“The increased rates for conveyances only affect properties worth more than $300,000 and thus will not affect the average home purchaser”.
“The median house price in Sydney is now at $1,179,519. This clearly shows that the government is ignoring the market in which the current stamp duty rates were to apply.
“Last financial year more than $7.3 billion was collected in stamp duty and to February 2018 the government has raised in excess of $4.7 billion, on par with the same amount collected in the first 8 months of that financial year.
“Importantly, there is empirical evidence available that supports that reducing stamp duty will create greater volumes of transactions which in turn generates more revenue for Government. This therefore is a win for the property consumer and a win for Government.
“It is completely disingenuous for Government to express sympathy for our first home buyers and other property consumers and then rip them off without dated stamp duty rates.
“The NSW Government needs to search for its conscience and fix these out dated stamp duty brackets,” Ms Pilkington said.
Source: REINSW