If you own property in Victoria, you may have to pay land tax.

From the 2024 land tax year, an absentee owner surcharge of 4% applies to Victorian land owned by an absentee owner. The surcharge was 2% for the 2020 to 2023 land tax years, 1.5% for the 2017 to 2019 land tax years, and 0.5% for the 2016 land tax year.

The absentee owner surcharge is an additional amount that applies over the land tax you pay at general and trust surcharge rates.

What is an absentee owner?

An absentee owner is an absentee person that owns land in Victoria, and can be:

• an absentee individual
• an absentee corporation, or
• a trustee of an absentee trust.

Each of these terms has a specific meaning. You should refer to each term for more information to see if the absentee owner surcharge applies to you.

An absentee individual is any individual who:

• is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and
• does not ordinarily reside in Australia, and
• was either absent from Australia:
  • on 31 December of the year prior to the tax year, or
  • for more than 6 months in total in the calendar year prior to the tax year. 

An absentee corporation is a corporation:

• incorporated outside Australia, or
• in which an absentee person(s) has a controlling interest.

An absentee trust can be a discretionary trust, a unit trust or a fixed trust, which has at least one beneficiary who is an absentee person. In the case of a:

• discretionary trust, the trust has at least one ‘specified beneficiary‘ who is an absentee person.
• unit trust, the trust has at least one unitholder who is an absentee person.
• fixed trust, the trust has at least one beneficiary who is an absentee person and has a beneficial interest in land held subject to the trust.

The absentee owner surcharge does not apply to excluded or administration trusts.

When will the surcharge apply?

If you are an absentee owner at 31 December, the surcharge applies in the following land tax year.

The surcharge is calculated on the total taxable value of Victorian land you own and will be included on your Victorian land tax assessment. The surcharge calculation depends on who owns the land and how they own it, for example if the land is jointly owned, owned by an absentee corporation that is part of a land tax group or owned by a trustee of an absentee trust that is a discretionary trust, unit trust or fixed trust.

The surcharge does not apply if land is exempt from land tax or if the total taxable value of your land(s) is below the threshold of $50,000 or $25,000 (if the land is held on trust and is subject to the trust surcharge rate).

An absentee corporation and an absentee trust may be eligible for an exemption from the absentee owner surcharge. If you believe you are eligible for an exemption, you can apply for one.
Apply for an exemption

Tell us if you are an absentee owner

If you are an absentee owner at 31 December, you must tell us before 15 January of the following year using our Absentee Owner Notification Portal.

If you cannot access the Absentee Owner Notification portal, submit your notification via our online contact form or by mail. 

Once you have notified us that you are an absentee owner, your land tax assessments will include the absentee owner surcharge. We assume that your absentee owner status is current until you tell us otherwise.

Failing to tell us that you are an absentee owner is a notification default under the Taxation Administration Act 1997. For more information on notification default, please refer to Revenue Ruling TAA-008. If this happens, you will be liable for penalty tax on the surcharge amount of land tax assessed in accordance with Revenue Ruling TAA-007v5. This may be penalty tax of:

• 5% if you voluntarily tell us that you are an absentee owner before we start an investigation
• 20% if you tell us you are an absentee owner after we start an investigation
• up to 90% if we believe that you intentionally disregarded the law and hindered our investigation.

Land tax applies for a calendar year. The rates shown apply for the 2024–2033 land tax years. For rates from the 2023 land tax year and earlier, go to Historical rates of land tax.

• Land tax general rates (from 2024 land tax year)
• Land tax trust surcharge rates (from 2024 land tax year)
• Land tax general rates with absentee owner surcharge (from 2024 land tax year)
• Land tax trust surcharge rates with absentee owner surcharge (from 2024 land tax year)

The material and contents provided in this publication are informative in nature only. It is not intended to be advice and you should not act specifically on the basis of this information alone. If expert assistance is required, professional advice should be obtained.