State of Markets - VIC March 2013

Free online resources for property buyers
One in four Victorian buyers are currently unsure about their legal rights and the steps involved when buying and selling a property, according to research.

In light of this research, freely available information has now been provided online for those looking to buy and sell a property.

Victorian buyers can now make use of free online video resources and guides from the Consumer Affairs Victoria website at www.comsumer.vic.gov.au

These resources “can help homebuyers and sellers cut through the confusion and avoid expensive mistakes,” the government body said in their newsletter.

The guides include sections from ‘Planning to buy property’ and ‘Research types of property to buy’ to ‘Buying property by private sale’ and ‘Understanding property prices’.

Tax intentions clarified
Treasurer Kim Wells criticised comments from the federal treasurer concerning a proposal put forward by the Gillard government to levy land tax on family homes.  

In a meeting of state and federal treasurers in Canberra, Wayne Swan called on states to abolish stamp duty, funded by increases in land tax.  

Mr Wells said Mr Swan’s comments that state Liberal treasurers had advocated for a broadening of the GST base and an increase in the tax rate were misleading.

“The Victorian Coalition government has said on a number of occasions we do not support extending GST to services like health and education, and any suggestion by Mr Swan is completely false,” Mr Wells said.

“We have advocated for a number of sensible reforms, including a lowering of the low-value GST threshold for imports.

“We also gave in-principle support to the harmonisation of payroll tax and the further examination of income tax sharing, subject to fair revenue sharing mechanisms, overall tax burden considerations and the impact on vertical fiscal imbalance.”