Land tax is the yearly bill that arrives for property you own but do not live in. Every state works it out differently, the thresholds keep moving, and most people only find out what they owe when the notice turns up. This calculator gives you the number before you buy.
Pick your state and who owns the land, then put in the land value of each property. It adds them up the way the revenue office does and shows the tax a year, a month and a week. Below that it shows what the same land would cost in every other state.
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Land value, not what you paid
Land tax is charged on the value of the land alone, not the house on it and not the price in your contract. Each state’s valuer-general sets it and prints it on your valuation notice. For a unit, the land value is your share of the block, which is why units usually pay far less land tax than houses.
Your own home is exempt in every state, so leave it out. What counts is the total land value of everything else you own in that state. Two properties that each sit under the threshold can still add up to a bill once they are counted together.
A worked example
The calculator opens on an investor in NSW who owns two properties with land values of $1,450,000 and $780,000. That is $2,230,000 of land in total. NSW charges nothing on the first $1,075,000 and then $100 plus 1.6 per cent of the rest, so the bill is $18,580 a year, or about $357 a week.
The same $2,230,000 of land would cost about $18,945 in Victoria, $24,795 in Queensland, $19,392 in Perth once the metropolitan charge is added, $10,520 in South Australia and $27,688 in Tasmania. The Northern Territory charges nothing.
How each state charges it
- NSW: tax-free up to $1,075,000 of total land value for the 2026 land tax year, then $100 plus 1.6 per cent, and 2 per cent above $6,571,000. The thresholds are frozen.
- Victoria: starts at $50,000. The COVID debt levy added flat charges of $500 and $975 to the lower bands from 2024.
- Queensland: individuals pay from $600,000. Companies and trusts pay from $350,000, at higher rates.
- Western Australia: tax-free to $300,000, a flat $300 to $420,000, then a sliding scale. Perth metro land also pays 0.14 per cent above $300,000.
- South Australia: tax-free to $936,000 of site value in 2026-27. Trusts pay from $25,000.
- Tasmania: tax-free below $125,000, then 0.45 per cent to $500,000 and 1.5 per cent above.
- ACT: every rented home pays a fixed $1,778 a year plus a rate on its average land value, property by property. Commercial property pays no land tax.
- Northern Territory: no land tax.
Buying in a company or a trust
The structure you buy in can change the bill more than the property does. In NSW a family trust gets no threshold at all and pays a flat 1.6 per cent. On $1,450,000 of land that is $23,200 a year, against $6,100 if you owned the same land in your own name. Queensland, Victoria and South Australia also charge trusts or companies more. Talk to your accountant before you pick a structure; our guide to buying property through a trust covers the trade-offs.
Put it into your cash flow
Land tax is a real holding cost and it is tax deductible on an investment property. Put the yearly figure into the investment property calculator or the negative gearing calculator to see what it does to your return. Buying a shop, office or warehouse? The commercial loan calculator shows the rest of the numbers.
Questions people ask
Do I pay land tax on my own home?
No. Your principal place of residence is exempt in every state and territory, as long as you meet that state’s rules for living in it.
Is land tax charged on each property or on the total?
On the total land value of everything you own in that state, except in the ACT, which charges each rented property on its own.
When do I get assessed?
NSW and Victoria look at what you own at midnight on 31 December. Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia use 30 June. Tasmania uses 1 July. The ACT bills every quarter.
Can I claim land tax on my tax return?
If the property earns rent, yes. Land tax on an investment property is a deductible expense in the year you pay it.
Estimates only, for general information, using the rates each revenue office publishes for the current land tax year. Foreign owner surcharges and exemptions are not included. They are not tax or financial advice.