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Tax Relief - Changes to land tax |
The NSW government in this year's budget announced changes to the way family unit trusts are to be assessed to land tax. The changes will allow family and other unit trusts to claim the land-taxfree threshold, saving about $6,000 a year in land tax at current rates. |
The government has allowed landowners a 12-month period in which to restructure their unit trusts to take advantage of these proposed changes. The tax relief is intended to apply to family unit trusts and other trusts which have previously been taxed as fixed trusts, provided they restructure their holdings into fixed trusts within 12 months. |
According to the recent budget speech, a family unit trust is a unit trust which holds land with a taxable value up to $1 million, which has previously been taxed as a fixed trust and in which at least 95 per cent of the units are owned by family members. |
Further relief will be available from other state taxes such as stamp duty. |
However, prior to restructuring their affairs, landowners need to consider the wider legal and tax consequences, particularly whether the overall tax cost will exceed the land tax and stamp duty saved. |
