Rural Communities Hit Again

Rural Communities Hit Again

Details announced in the Carr Government's Mini Budget, have the potential to rip the heart out of the NSW property market. NSW is now the only State in Australia in which you are taxed for buying, owning, and selling an investment property. Labor is penalising ordinary investors in order to plug the budget black hole, created by its own financial mismanagement.

It's little wonder Bob Carr bought his investment property in New Zealand.

This new tax could lead to a significant exit of `Mum and Dad' investors interstate, discourage small business and create thousands of new taxpayers. These taxes will bring over 250,000 people into the land tax net for the very first time. Those who will now be paying Stamp Duty on both the purchase and the sale of their properties are not necessarily wealthy people.

These tax increases will ultimately hurt both investment property owners and the people who rent their homes. The people who bear this tax are those least able to afford it - and that is people who rent and who are trying to enter the market for the first time.

While the Stamp Duty relief for first homebuyers is welcome, the overall impact of the Mini Budget will be a deeply negative one for the State. The great tax impost from new Stamp Duty provisions and the extension of land tax is on ordinary residents.

Mr John Brogden has spoken with industry groups and received a large number of complaints from taxpayers and says it is clear that the Mini Budget will:

Impact on the price of property currently below $500,000; Encourage investment interstate, particularly by small business operators and property investors in border regions such as the Tweed; Discourage people from investing in property as part of their retirement plans; Force up rents as land tax increases are passed on by landowners; Disadvantage the many people who buy their first property as an investment because they cannot afford to live in it.

In a statement Queensland Premier said, "The NSW Treasurer, Michael Egan, has made Queensland an even more attractive place to invest and do business."

Why does the Carr Government continue to expect country residents to bear the brunt of its mismanagement and when is the Premier going to become accountable for over taxing NSW residents?

With the announcement of the axing of the Casino to Murwillumbah rail link and the closure of Countrylink offices and now a further threat of State-wide Countrylink services closures, rural and regional people have had enough. The Government should be pouring funds into our regional road network and Countrylink services and not cutting budgets.

The Coalition opposes all tax increases by the Carr Government, voting against the tax increases. These tax increases amount to an extra $690 million in new taxes on property investors in the first year alone.

The Coalition has a different approach and between now and the next election we will detail our plan to provide real tax relief to the "Mums and Dads" who have purchased an investment property.