How land tax is calculated
To work out land tax, add up the value of the taxable land an owner holds in that state on the taxing date, subtract the threshold, then apply the state's rate scale. The general rate in NSW is $100 plus 1.6% of land value above $1,075,000. A combined value of $1,200,000 therefore means $2,100 a year.
How land tax is calculated, step by step
Every office follows the same four steps, with its own numbers.
- The land value. The state valuer sets a value for the land alone, without buildings. NSW uses the unimproved value from the NSW Valuer General, Victoria and South Australia use the site value, and the ACT uses the average unimproved value.
- The date used for tax. Land held at that moment is the only land that counts. NSW and Victoria take midnight on 31 December as the taxing moment. Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia instead use midnight on 30 June.
- The total. The office adds up the taxable land in the owner's name; exempt land, such as the home, does not count.
- Scale. The total is matched against both the threshold and the rate bands. Every band sets a fixed amount, and a rate applies to the part above where the band begins.
| State or territory | Threshold | First band | Top rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | $1,075,000 | $100 plus 1.6% above the threshold | 2% |
| Victoria | $50,000 | $500 flat | 2.65% |
| Queensland | $600,000 | $500 plus 1% above the threshold | 2.25% |
| Western Australia | $300,000 | $300 flat | 2.67% |
| South Australia | $936,000 | 0.5% above the threshold | 2.4% |
| Tasmania | $125,000 | $50 plus 0.45% above the threshold | 1.5% |
| Australian Capital Territory | No threshold | $1,778 plus 0.54% | 1.26% |
| Northern Territory | No land tax | ||
Sources: Revenue NSW, State Revenue Office Victoria, Queensland Revenue Office, RevenueWA, RevenueSA, State Revenue Office Tasmania, ACT Revenue Office, Territory Revenue Office.
Averaging levels out big jumps
In several states, the newest value is not taxed on its own. Revenue NSW averages land values over 3 years. Queensland's taxable value is the lower of the statutory value and the averaged value, drawn from the current year plus the two years before it.
In Western Australia, the tax applies to the lower of the current unimproved value and 150% of the previous year's value. The ACT takes an average of unimproved values over up to five years.
Land tax aggregation: one total per owner
The threshold counts once for the owner's combined holding, not for each block. Revenue NSW shows one owner holding three rentals plus a holiday home, with a combined average value of $1,655,000. For 2026, her bill is $9,380, made up of $100 plus 1.6% charged on the $580,000 that sits above the threshold.
In Queensland, a share in a jointly owned block is counted by its value. The example totals an owner's interests in four properties at $1,269,000 in taxable value, before his home is exempted. Land tax, the office says, is worked out on freehold land owned in Queensland, and land in another state does not go into the Queensland total.
Tenants in common and joint owners
Where ownership is shared, Revenue NSW treats those people as joint owners for land tax. The group is assessed first as a single taxpayer with a single threshold. Each owner is then assessed on that share plus any land they hold alone, and a deduction keeps the same land from being taxed twice. Land held as tenants in common or as joint tenancy counts in South Australia as a joint ownership.
Victoria treats every different combination of owners as a joint ownership of its own.
Land tax grouping for related companies
Related companies cannot each claim a threshold for themselves. In NSW, related companies cannot each claim the threshold: one concessional company gets it, and every other company is assessed without it. For a corporate group, RevenueSA makes the assessment as though one corporation owns all of the land. Victoria treats grouped corporations in the same way.
How much land tax applies to one value
The quickest way to see the rules at work is to run one land value through every state's scale.
By state:
| State or territory | $1,000,000 |
|---|---|
| New South Wales | No tax |
| Victoria | $4,650 |
| Queensland | $4,500 |
| Western Australia | $1,750 |
| South Australia | $320 |
| Tasmania | $9,238 |
| Australian Capital Territory | $12,378 |
| Northern Territory | No land tax |
Sources: Revenue NSW, State Revenue Office Victoria, Queensland Revenue Office, RevenueWA, RevenueSA, State Revenue Office Tasmania, ACT Revenue Office, Territory Revenue Office.
Questions
How is land tax calculated?
The office totals the value of all the taxable land an owner holds in the state on the taxing date. The band that matches that total then applies: a set amount, plus a rate charged on what sits above the band's start.
What is the land tax on a $1 million property?
The answer depends on the state and the land value rather than the price, because buildings are not counted. In NSW, an individual with taxable land of $1,000,000 and nothing else pays nothing, because the general threshold stands at $1,075,000. Every other state that levies land tax charges a sum on land of that value.
Is a threshold given once to joint owners, or do they receive two?
One. Where owners share property, Revenue NSW assesses them jointly as a single taxpayer who may claim just one land tax threshold for that shared land.
Does land tax apply separately to each property, or to the combined total?
On the combined total. According to Revenue NSW, the threshold applies to the combined value of all land an owner holds, not to each property on its own.
Is land in other states counted in Queensland land tax?
No, it does not. Queensland Revenue Office works out land tax on freehold land in Queensland that an owner holds at midnight on 30 June.