Victorian land tax is a yearly tax on the value of land owned in Victoria, leaving out exempt land such as the owner’s home. It falls on whoever owned the land at midnight on 31 December of the year before, and it is worked out from the site values set by the Valuer-General. The State Revenue Office says the tax helps pay for public services and encourages land to be used effectively.
General informationThis page summarises the State Revenue Office’s pages on understanding land tax and current land tax rates. It is not tax advice. Different rates apply depending on how land is owned, and the State Revenue Office’s own calculators give an estimate for a particular holding.
The count, and the year that follows
- Midnight, 31 December
The tax for the coming year is calculated on the site values of all the taxable land each owner held at that moment.
- 1 January to 31 December
That coming year is the land tax year: the tax applies for a calendar year.
- Any day of the year
Selling part-way through does not end the bill. The owner counted at midnight stays responsible for the whole year’s tax.
- January to June
The State Revenue Office generally issues assessments in these months.
- 12 weeks after issue
Payment falls due.
Which land it reaches
From 1 January 2024, land tax applies once the total taxable value of an owner’s land reaches $50,000 for an individual, or $25,000 for a trust, as at the SRO page updated 17 September 2026. The State Revenue Office gives these as common examples of taxable land:
- residential investment properties
- commercial or industrial properties
- vacant land
- holiday homes.
Some land is exempt, and the office names three examples: an owner’s home, known as the principal place of residence; a farm, known as primary production land; and rooming houses and charitable institutions. It adds that where an employee works from home instead of at the employer’s premises, land tax does not apply in most circumstances, provided the employer’s business is run from somewhere else.
Ownership is counted carefully. Each different combination of owners is assessed separately on the land they hold together, and each of those owners may also be assessed alone on other taxable land they own. Absentee owners and land held in trust can attract surcharges on top.
The general rates
The tax is a sliding scale on the total taxable value of a person’s land. The current rates apply for the land tax years from 2024 to 2033.
| Total taxable value of land holdings | Land tax payable |
|---|---|
| Less than $50,000 | Nil |
| $50,000 to less than $100,000 | $500 |
| $100,000 to less than $300,000 | $975 |
| $300,000 to less than $600,000 | $1,350 and 0.3% of value above $300,000 |
| $600,000 to less than $1,000,000 | $2,250 and 0.6% of value above $600,000 |
| $1,000,000 to less than $1,800,000 | $4,650 and 0.9% of value above $1,000,000 |
| $1,800,000 to less than $3,000,000 | $11,850 and 1.65% of value above $1,800,000 |
| $3,000,000 or more | $31,650 and 2.65% of value above $3,000,000 |
The same page carries three more scales: the trust surcharge rates, the general rates with the absentee owner surcharge, and the trust rates with that surcharge as well. Rates for the 2023 land tax year and earlier sit on a separate historical page.
| An individual’s total taxable land, at midnight on 31 December | $750,000 |
| Band: $600,000 to less than $1,000,000 | $2,250 |
| Plus 0.6% of the $150,000 above $600,000 | $900 |
| Land tax for the year | $3,150 |
At $1,200,000 the same steps give $4,650 plus 0.9% of $200,000, which is $6,450. These examples assume no exemption, no surcharge and no joint ownership.
One value, four scales
Taking the same illustrative $750,000 through each of the four tables on the page, as at its update of 29 September 2026, gives these amounts.
| General rates: $2,250 plus 0.6% of $150,000 | $3,150.00 |
| Trust surcharge rates: $4,263 plus 0.975% of $150,000 | $5,725.50 |
| General rates with absentee owner surcharge: $26,250 plus 4.6% of $150,000 | $33,150.00 |
| Trust rates with absentee owner surcharge: $28,263 plus 4.975% of $150,000 | $35,725.50 |
At the top of the scale the general and trust tables meet: from $3,000,000 up, both charge $31,650 and 2.65% of value above that point. Who counts as an absentee owner, or as a trust, is set out on the State Revenue Office’s own pages.
After the assessment
The State Revenue Office lists what an assessment notice shows:
- the total taxable value of the land
- any exemptions that apply
- the amount of land tax to pay
- the due date, 12 weeks after the notice is issued.
Owners are required to tell the office about errors on an assessment and about changes that affect their land tax, such as moving house, building or renovating, or starting to lease their home. Its online portal, My Land Tax, holds the last five years of assessments and handles changes of ownership and contact details, exemption applications and payments; instalments are arranged through AutoPay. The portal also tracks enquiries, and the office can be linked to a myGov account.
The site value on a land tax assessment comes from the Valuer-General’s yearly 1 January valuation, the same process behind council rates, but from an earlier year: the State Revenue Office says 2026 assessments use valuations made on 1 January 2025. An objection to that valuation is lodged with the State Revenue Office, not the council, under the process set out in the guide to rates notices.