Tasmanian Government makes alterations to state land tax obligations

Premier Peter Gutwein in a statement on Sunday said in addition to movements in the tax-free threshold, the tax rate for land valued between $100,000 and $500,000 would shift slightly from 0.55 to 0.45 per cent.

"We took action last year to relieve some of the costs of rental properties and put downward pressure on rents by resetting the land tax thresholds which provided more than $56 million in land tax relief for landlords and property owners over four years," he said.

READ MORE: Launcestons Dunn family bows out of Brisbane Street after 140 years

"With house prices and rents continuing to rise, we know more needs to be done and the new arrangements will save Tasmanians hundreds more each year."

Mr Gutwein said the changes meant around 70,000 Tasmanians would save on average about $800 every year, up to a maximum saving of $1620.

READ MORE: LGBTQIA+ advocates call to ban unnecessary medical interventions

Close to 12,000 taxpayers would no longer need to pay any land tax at all, he said.

"When combined with the changes we made last year, it will provide about $220 million of tax relief for property owners over the next four years - to enable further reductions in the costs for rental properties and helping to put downward pressure on rent prices," Mr Gutwein said.

READ MORE: Beautiful blooms delight crowds at Entally Estate

Labor in last year's election campaign announced it would abolish land tax on property valued below $100,000, which was double the amount the Liberals had proposed, if it won government.

The party proposed land tax cuts from 35 to 60 per cent on property valued between $100,000 and $500,000.

Prior to land tax changes, the tax-free threshold was for property valued at under $25,000 and the top tax band threshold was $350,000.

The government earned $13.1 million more in land tax revenue in 2020-21 than was forecast, taking in almost $130 million in revenue.

A 2021-22 budget update released by Treasury earlier this month showed that the state was forecast to collect $141.7 million in land tax revenue over the year.