If you own an investment property in Victoria, land tax is the bill that catches people out. Not because it is large, but because almost nobody budgets for it before they buy.
The threshold is the number that decides whether you get one at all. Here is what it is right now, what it costs you, and the one thing about it that changes the maths on buying a unit instead of a house.
What is land tax in Victoria?
Land tax is an annual tax on the total value of the taxable land you own in Victoria. Your principal place of residence, meaning the home you actually live in, is exempt. Investment properties, holiday houses, commercial property and vacant land are not.
There are 2 things about that definition that matter more than people expect.
It is a tax on land, not on buildings. The State Revenue Office uses the site value set by the Valuer-General, which is the land on its own, as if nothing was built on it. Your renovated kitchen does not come into it.
It is also a tax on your total holdings, not on each property separately. If you own 3 small blocks, their site values are added together and the tax is worked out on the total. So 2 properties that each sit under the threshold can still produce a bill once they are combined.
What is the land tax threshold in Victoria in 2026?
The general land tax threshold in Victoria is $50,000 of total site value. Below that you pay nothing. At $50,000 or above, land tax applies.
Land held in a trust is usually assessed on a separate scale that starts at $25,000, though which scale applies depends on how the trust is classified. Check with the SRO or your accountant if your property is held that way.
The threshold is assessed on what you owned at midnight on 31 December of the year before the assessment. That date is worth remembering if you are settling an investment purchase in late December, because it decides who receives next year’s bill.
How much land tax do you actually pay in Victoria?
These are the general rates that apply for the 2024 to 2033 land tax years.
| Total taxable value of land holdings | Land tax payable |
|---|---|
| Under $50,000 | Nil |
| $50,000 to under $100,000 | $500 |
| $100,000 to under $300,000 | $975 |
| $300,000 to under $600,000 | $1,350 plus 0.3% of the amount over $300,000 |
| $600,000 to under $1,000,000 | $2,250 plus 0.6% of the amount over $600,000 |
| $1,000,000 to under $1,800,000 | $4,650 plus 0.9% of the amount over $1,000,000 |
| $1,800,000 to under $3,000,000 | $11,850 plus 1.65% of the amount over $1,800,000 |
| $3,000,000 and over | $31,650 plus 2.65% of the amount over $3,000,000 |
So most people who were brought into the system by the lower threshold are paying either $500 or $975 a year. It is the flat $500 and $975 steps that do the work at the bottom of the scale.
There is also an absentee owner surcharge that sits on top of these rates, and vacant residential land tax, which is a separate tax of its own rather than a surcharge. Check the State Revenue Office site if either could apply to you.
Does land tax apply to apartments?
It can, but often it does not, and this is the single most useful thing to understand before you buy.
Because land tax is calculated on site value, an apartment’s share of the land can be small even when the apartment itself is not cheap. A $600,000 apartment in a block of 40 can have a site value well under $50,000. A $600,000 house on its own block of land in Melbourne almost certainly will not.
No apartment is automatically exempt. Whether you get a bill depends on that site value, plus any other Victorian land you own, because the holdings are added together.
Same price, completely different land tax outcome. If you are weighing up a unit against a house as an investment, that annual holding cost is part of the comparison, and it rarely gets mentioned at the open home.
Why is the threshold $50,000 and not $300,000?
The threshold was cut from $300,000 of site value to $50,000 in the 2023 state budget, as part of Victoria’s COVID Debt Repayment Plan, and took effect from the 2024 land tax year. The flat $500 and $975 charges came in at the same time.
The rates and thresholds above are set to apply for the 2024 to 2033 land tax years. So unless legislation changes, this is the structure for the next several years.
What is the land tax threshold in other states?
Victoria has the lowest threshold of any state, by a wide margin. The ACT is the only jurisdiction lower, because it has no threshold at all. This is where land tax starts in each state and territory.
| State or territory | Threshold where land tax starts |
|---|---|
| VIC | $50,000 |
| TAS | $125,000 |
| WA | $300,000 |
| QLD | $600,000 (individuals) |
| SA | $936,000 (2026-27) |
| NSW | $1,075,000 |
| ACT | No threshold, land tax applies from the first dollar |
| NT | No land tax at all |
These are the current published thresholds: the 2026 land tax year for Victoria, fixed from 1 January 2025 for New South Wales, 2026-27 for South Australia, and from 1 July 2025 for Tasmania. Queensland and Western Australia publish theirs without a year attached.
Read the table with care. Victoria and New South Wales assess on a calendar year, South Australia and Western Australia on a financial year, and the ACT quarterly. New South Wales also uses a 3 year average of your land values rather than the latest one, which smooths out a jump but also means a spike keeps affecting you for 3 years. Thresholds for companies, trusts and absentee owners are different again. So these are starting points rather than a like for like comparison.
The practical point for a Victorian investor looking interstate is that the same land value can cost hundreds of dollars a year more or less depending on the state. Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales all have considerably more room before land tax begins.
Is the Victorian land tax threshold going to change?
Possibly, but not yet. Returning the threshold to $300,000 has been publicly proposed, and nothing has been legislated.
Until it is, your assessment is worked out on the rates in the table above. An announcement is not a change to your bill, and the current settings are scheduled to run through the 2033 land tax year.
How do you check your own land tax?
Use the land tax calculator on the State Revenue Office Victoria website, and log in to My Land Tax to see the site values the SRO is actually using for your properties.
Do not work it out from your purchase price. Use the site value on your assessment or your council rates notice, because that is the figure the tax is calculated on.
If the number looks wrong, the site value is the thing to question, not the tax.
Where this fits into buying an investment property
Land tax is one of the annual costs that decide whether an investment property is actually cash flow positive, alongside rates, insurance, owners corporation fees and maintenance. It is also one of the few you can estimate before you buy, because the site value is public.
If you are looking at an investment purchase in Victoria, send me the address and I will give you an estimate of the holding costs and what you can borrow, for your accountant to confirm.
Karan Kapoor is a Melbourne mortgage broker specialising in first home buyers and SMSF lending. Sklupple Pty Ltd (ACN 676 755 990) trading as KK Talks Finance is a Credit Representative (CR No. 569266) of Australian Finance Group Ltd (ACL 389087).
General information only, current as at October 2026. Prepared by a credit representative, not a registered tax agent or a lawyer. Nothing here is tax advice and it does not take your circumstances into account. Land tax rates, thresholds and exemptions change. Confirm current settings with the State Revenue Office Victoria and speak to your own accountant or registered tax agent before relying on any of this.
Sources: State Revenue Office Victoria (land tax current rates and land tax overview), Revenue NSW, Queensland Revenue Office, RevenueSA, RevenueWA, State Revenue Office Tasmania, ACT Revenue Office, Northern Territory Government.