Company Land Tax Thresholds and Rates by State

Company land tax thresholds by state range from $25,000 in South Australia to $1,075,000 in New South Wales, with the Northern Territory charging no land tax at all. The threshold that actually applies to your company depends on more than the state: holding land through a trust, having a foreign owner, or sitting inside a corporate group can reduce the tax-free amount sharply or wipe it out entirely.

What the Threshold Measures

A land tax threshold is the combined value of taxable land a company can hold in a state before tax applies. Cross it, and tax is charged on the amount above the line, usually at progressive rates.

The value measured is the unimproved value of the land, set by the state’s Valuer-General. Buildings, fit-outs, fences, and landscaping are excluded.¹ Victoria calls the same figure the “site value.”²

Each state fixes ownership and value on a specific date. NSW and Victoria use midnight on 31 December of the preceding year.³ Western Australia and Queensland use 30 June.⁴ Buying or selling one day either side of that date can shift a company’s liability for the whole year.

Company Thresholds and Rates State by State

The gap between jurisdictions is wide enough that a $500,000 portfolio can be untaxed in one state and meaningfully taxed in another.

New South Wales

The 2026 tax-free threshold is $1,075,000, and it is now frozen at that figure for future years.⁵ Above the threshold, the general rate is $100 plus 1.6% of the value over $1,075,000. Once total value passes $6,571,000, the premium rate kicks in at $88,036 plus 2% of the excess.

The threshold does not apply to land held through special or discretionary trusts, which pay from the first dollar.³

Victoria

General land tax starts at $50,000 of total taxable value under the rates applying from the 2024 to 2033 land tax years. Between $50,000 and $100,000 the tax is a flat $500, and the top bracket is $31,650 plus 2.65% of value above $3,000,000.⁶

Land held in trust faces a surcharge scale that starts at $25,000 and charges a higher rate at every tier. The trust and general scales converge once total value reaches $3,000,000.⁷

Western Australia

The threshold is $300,000. Land valued between $300,001 and $420,000 attracts a flat $300, and rates climb through several brackets to a top marginal rate of 2.67% on value above $11,000,000. Perth metropolitan land also attracts a separate Metropolitan Region Improvement Tax of 0.14% on value above $300,000.⁴

South Australia

South Australia has the lowest company threshold in the country. Individuals get a $833,000 general threshold, but companies and trusts start paying at $25,000 of taxable land value. A single commercial property with modest land value can already sit above that line.

Queensland, Tasmania, ACT, and Northern Territory

Queensland assesses at midnight on 30 June each year, with a top marginal rate of 2.75% on the largest holdings. Tasmania runs a residential land tax system with quarterly assessment dates. The Northern Territory charges no land tax.⁸ Because thresholds move, check the current figures with the relevant state revenue office each year.

How Trust Ownership Changes the Threshold

A trust structure that helps with asset protection or succession planning almost always makes land tax more expensive.

In NSW, land held through a special or discretionary trust loses the $1,075,000 tax-free threshold entirely, and tax applies from the first dollar of land value.³ In Victoria, trust land is taxed on a surcharge scale that starts at $25,000 rather than $50,000, with a higher rate at each bracket.⁶

Victoria carves out exceptions. Certain “excluded trusts” pay at the general scale instead: charitable trusts, complying superannuation trusts, public unit trust schemes, and trusts established for a person with a disability. Trustees of a fixed or unit trust can also avoid the surcharge by notifying the State Revenue Office of every beneficiary or unit holder and their share.⁷

Foreign Owner Surcharges

Companies with foreign ownership pay additional surcharge land tax on top of the standard bill, and the surcharge scales usually have no tax-free threshold of their own.

NSW applies a 5% surcharge on land owned by foreign persons, calculated on the full land value.⁹ Victoria runs an absentee owner surcharge that adds roughly 4% at most brackets on top of the general or trust surcharge rates, pushing effective rates above 6% for high-value holdings. A single absentee beneficiary is enough to classify an entire trust as an absentee trust.⁶ Absentee trustees must notify the State Revenue Office by 15 January of the following year through the absentee owner notification portal.⁷

Related Companies Share One Threshold

Splitting a portfolio across subsidiaries does not multiply thresholds. Revenue authorities group related companies and apply a single threshold to the combined value.

In NSW, two companies are related if one controls the board of the other, holds more than 50% of the shares, or can cast more than 50% of the votes. The same test applies where one person or group controls both companies. Companies can be grouped by being related to a common third company, and it doesn’t matter if some grouped companies hold no NSW land at all.¹⁰

Once identified, a group can be assessed jointly, separately, or in a mix. A $2 million portfolio spread across four subsidiaries gets one $1,075,000 threshold, not four.¹⁰

Exemptions That Take Land Off the Threshold

Certain uses remove land from the taxable base entirely, no matter its value.

Primary production land is a common exemption. In NSW it covers maintaining animals for sale or produce, cultivating crops, beekeeping, commercial fishing, and plant nurseries whose main activity isn’t retail sales to the public.¹¹ In WA, non-rural land qualifies only if the primary production business is run by an owner or a related family member, while rural land must be used solely for primary production.¹² Token farming on land actually held for subdivision or development will not hold up under review.

Charitable use is another route. Land owned by a charitable institution and used solely for its charitable purposes can be exempt; in WA both conditions must be satisfied at midnight on 30 June before the assessment year.¹³ Victoria also treats charitable trusts as excluded trusts, so they escape the trust surcharge.⁷

Why Your Threshold Position Can Change Each Year

Land tax thresholds only look static. Valuations in most states are updated annually to track the market, so a company sitting comfortably below the line one year can cross it the next without buying anything.

Structural changes carry the same risk in the other direction. Moving land into a discretionary trust can drop the NSW threshold from $1,075,000 to zero. Adding a foreign beneficiary to a Victorian trust triggers the absentee surcharge. Taking a controlling stake in another landholding company brings the aggregation rules into play, and the two portfolios then share one threshold.

The most costly assumption is that land tax only concerns large investors. A South Australian company holding one commercial site with $30,000 of land value is already above the trust threshold there. Checking the current thresholds and rates with your state revenue office each year takes minutes, and it is cheaper than a back-assessment with interest and penalties attached.

1
Landgate. Unimproved Value
2
State Revenue Office of Victoria. Site Values and Land Tax
3
Revenue NSW. Land Tax Thresholds and Rates
4
Government of Western Australia. Land Tax Assessment
5
Revenue NSW. Preparing for the 2025 Land Tax Year
6
State Revenue Office of Victoria. Land Tax Current Rates
7
State Revenue Office of Victoria. Trusts and Land Tax
8
NT.GOV.AU. Property Taxes
9
Revenue NSW. What Is Surcharge Land Tax
10
Revenue NSW. Related Companies
11
Revenue NSW. Land Tax Exemption for Primary Production Land
12
Government of Western Australia. Apply for a Land Tax Exemption – Primary Production
13
Government of Western Australia. Apply for a Land Tax Charitable Exemption