Stamp Duty - Will QLD Follow Suit of NSW?

Pelicannn on 24/09/2020 - 21:07

My partner and I are looking at purchasing a house in Queensland in the next 3-6 months. Deposit and all is saved (however we continue to save as well to ease the burden) and we have a semi-preapproval through NAB (haven't finalised as it's only valid 90 days anyway) at the loan size we are looking up to as we want to get the FHOG anyway.

This place will be our primary residence for 12-18 months by which then we would like to turn it into an investment property.

I have seen that NSW has paused collection of Stamp Duty for new properties under $800,000. For us in QLD, we could be up for $20,000+ in stamp duty, which is a fair sum of money.

Do you think we should hold off and see if QLD follows suit? or do you think that is unlikely? Or am I asking for how long a piece of string is?

This is our first property, so I've never followed property trends across different states, i.e if NSW does it, how likely are the others States to also offer it? We will still buy regardless, but if this is something that might come in 6 months time, we would definitely delay the purchase.

Poll Options

  • 0
    Stamp Duty pause is likely to occur
  • 2
    Stamp Duty pause is neither likely or unlikely to occur
  • 35
    Stamp Duty pause is not likely to occur
Financial

Comments

  • iNeed2Pee on 24/09/2020 - 21:15
    +1

    Whilst you commented on my post, I am commenting on yours.

    If you really like something, don't wait for the government to act on stampduty changes.
    I think QLD will be in a big defecit from Covid and changes to stamp duty might not be as quick as you hope.
    Good luck with your first purchase! Im in the same boat in Vic and would love stamp duty to be slashed somewhat.

    • Pelicannn on 24/09/2020 - 22:22
      +1

      Yeah that is our plan at the end of the day, if its perfect for our needs we will buy it and hopefully just kick ourselves a little less if it does happen. It isn't the first time I have looked at property, when I lived in Sydney I contemplated buying an investment but didnt want to pay LMI at the time. Now I realise the LMI was insignificant to the capital gains I would have made but hindsight is 6/6 right.

      • kawinuyo on 25/09/2020 - 01:47

        You don't know how happy you made me seeing someone use 6/6

  • RM on 24/09/2020 - 21:17
    +5

    If the stamp duty waiver does happen.. Sellers or builders will increase the price by the same amount (cause the buyer now has an extra $$$$ to pay)..

    If you want to buy one… I reckon now is a better time than any other time… Go for it

    • Pelicannn on 24/09/2020 - 22:20

      That is a valid point, however i have been watching a few builds over the past few months and have been pleased to see that since homebuilder prices did not go up on OTP townhouses, homes and apartments that I could see. So I am hoping if the stamp duty does get removed they don't rise it by the full amount.

      Then again, being eligible for a DHOAS loan, I know all too well how people will screw you when they know you're getting free money.

    • EightImmortals on 25/09/2020 - 07:13

      Does that apply if you've had an investment property?

    • Pelicannn on 25/09/2020 - 10:05

      We are looking at a property in the 650-750k realm so it will unfortunately be out of the bracket.

  • EightImmortals on 25/09/2020 - 07:12

    Well if you can wait 6 months then I would do that, not for the stamp duty tax issue but take a look at the real estate sales ATM. There's about a trillion houses for sale right now in QLD and though the asking prices are still high that will soon change (IMO). You'll probably pick up a bargain in 6 months that will more than offset the imposition of the governments stamp duty tax. The political class have also been talking of getting rid of stamp duty tax on houses and replacing it with a perpetual property tax of some kind but I'm not sure how far along they are with that little scam and I doubt they would push it too hard before the election. Especially after the disaster they have created so far this year.

    More reading on universal land tax: https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/ahuri-briefs/understanding…

    No figures are given (of course) but it will be a perpetual annual tax slug.
    Also, they 'promised' to get rid of stamp duty tax when we approved the GST and look what happened there so who's to say they wont pull the same stunt again?
    (This is not financial advice DYOR)

    • Pelicannn on 25/09/2020 - 10:07

      Yeah look I still find it funny that we have stamp duty with GST.

      Heck I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when their lightbulb moment went off that said ‘hey, I know we said we’d abolish it, but let’s just keep it and get two lots of taxes’

      • fifonerd on 25/09/2020 - 12:44

        Stamp duty is a state tax and GST is a federal tax. Yes, the federal government distributes GST revenue to the states but it's not a perfect system. The states still have stamp duty because it gives them a good way to control a portion of their revenue. However, ACT has plans to completely remove stamp duty and there's been rumours from Victoria that they'd like to follow suit.

  • fifonerd on 25/09/2020 - 12:42

    Queensland aren't going to follow suit with NSW. Queensland didn't even release a state budget this year (every other state/territory delayed their budget to occur after the federal budget, but Queensland just decided not to have one at all, most likely due to how close the new date of the federal budget is to the election - you can't have a budget if parliament is in caretaker mode.

    The increased rate of NSW's stamp duty (transfer duty) concessions are for first home owners purchasing newly built properties only so it's not an across the board concession. If you're purchasing an established property or land as a first home buyer, the concessions are different. Queensland does provide a concession for first home buyers but the limit is lower.

    edit for clarity

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