Apply for a land tax exemption

A primary residence exemption does not apply if the property is held in trust or owned in a company name. You may be eligible for a partial exemption if

• not all owners reside in the property or
• the property is dual use, such as a shop and your primary residence.

For more information, see the exemptions relating to private residences fact sheet and Commissioner’s Practice LT 4 ‘Primary Residence’.

Contact us if you believe you have incorrectly received a land tax notice because of your use of the property as your private residence. You may be required to apply for a residential exemption.

You may receive the exemption if 

• you do not own any other private residential property that is exempt from land tax as your primary residence
• you commence/carry out construction or refurbishment of the private residence in the first assessment year (for example, 2019-20)
• you occupy the property as your primary place of residence on or before 30 June in the second assessment year (that is, 2021) and are the first person to do so.

If you receive an exemption for two assessment years and your private residence is not completed within that time, we will 'roll forward' the exemption. This means we will apply the exemption for the assessment year following the second assessment year, and will reassess land tax for the first assessment year.

For more information, see the exemptions relating to private residences fact sheet, Commissioner’s Practice LT 5 ‘Newly Constructed Private Residences’ and Commissioner’s Practice LT 6 ‘Exemptions During Renovation of a Private Residence’.

Apply for the two year residential exemption.

One year exemption

Apply for a one year exemption when you have started living in your new residence and you have delivered possession of your former residence to the purchaser. You may receive the exemption if

• the new residence was purchased in the year before the assessment year (for example, between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019)
• you moved from your former residence to your new residence in the assessment year (that is, on or before 30 June 2020)
• you delivered possession of the former residence to a purchaser in the assessment year (that is, on or before 30 June 2020)
• you did not derive rent from either property during the period that you owned them both.

For more information, see the exemptions relating to private residences fact sheet and Commissioner’s Practice LT 8 ‘Rebate if Moving from One Residence to Another’.

Apply for a transitional residential exemption.

Two year exemption

Apply for this exemption after the building contract has been executed, or for an owner-builder, after the building permit is granted. You may receive the exemption if

• you own two residences with the first one you acquired being occupied as your primary residence and the second (new) one you acquired being constructed or refurbished. The new residence must have been purchased in the year before the first assessment year (for example, between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019)
• you sell the first acquired residence and deliver it to the purchaser before 30 June in the second assessment year
• you complete and occupy the residence you acquired second in the second assessment year (that is, between 1 July 2020 and 30 June 2021)
• you did not derive rent from either property during the period that you owned them both.

For more information, see the exemptions relating to private residences fact sheet and Commissioner’s Practice LT 8 ‘Rebate if Moving from One Residence to Another’.

Apply for the two year transitional residential exemption.

This concession allows land tax and metropolitan region improvement tax to be paid on the lower undeveloped (or ‘englobo’) value of the land, that is, the value of the land prior to the subdivision, rather than the full subdivided value of lots, for one year after the creation of the lots. For more information, see the concession on land tax payable on subdivided lots fact sheet.

Apply for a concession on land tax payable for subdivided lots.

Primary production consists of activities described as agriculture, silviculture, reafforestation, grazing, horse-breeding, horticulture, viticulture, apiculture, pig raising or poultry farming.

Secondary production is considered to be land used to process, store or transport processed or converted produce. Land used for this purpose is not exempt from land tax.  We will apply a partial exemption if land is used for both primary and secondary production.

You must provide evidence to prove a primary production activity is a primary production business.

Apply for an exemption for land used for primary production business.

Changes to exempt land

If an exemption has been approved and the use, user or ownership of the land changes, notify us in writing by the beginning of the assessment year following the change, or 3 months after the day of the change, whichever is later.

A penalty of up to $5,000 may apply if you do not notify us as required.

Partial exemptions and concessions are available if only some of the owners use the land as their primary residence or if the land is used for both exempt and non-exempt purposes, such as residential and business/commercial purposes.

See Commissioner's Practice LT 23 for information about the taxable value of partially exempt land.

The Commissioner can't give an exemption from land tax to land held by a charitable body or organisation that is a relevant body unless a beneficial body determination is in force.

See the Charitable exemptions web page for more information.

Click on the link below to complete the relevant application form.

• Land used for residential purposes by individuals under the terms of a will
• Continued residential exemption after death of the owner
• Land owned by an individual and used by a disabled person related to the owner as their primary residence
• Land owned by a trust/company and used by a disabled beneficiary as their primary residence
  See our related practice.
• Land used for residential purposes, not zoned solely residential and situated in the inner city area
• Land owned by a religious body and used for religious purposes
  See our related practice.
• Land owned by an educational institution and used for educational purposes
  See our related practice.
• Land used as an aged care facility
• Land owned by a non-profit or sports association and used for the purposes of that association
  See our related practice.
• Land used as a caravan park or camping ground
  See our related practice.
• Land used as a retirement village
  See our related practice.

Contact us to apply for the following exemptions, concessions and rebates.

• Land owned or vested in the Crown, local government or an agency of the Crown
• Land used for a public or religious hospital
• Land held as mining tenements
• Land dedicated to zoological, agricultural or other public purposes
• Land owned by a veteran’s surviving partner or mother
• Land held under an approved conservation covenant
• Land vacated for sale by mortgagee

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