For better or worse, the artist Ai Weiwei probably won’t make a sculpture called A Monument to Stamp Duty in his lifetime. However, despite this being the case, stamp duty is an incredibly important tax.
“This revenue is added into all state government budgets,” Lachlan Walker, from Brisbane’s Place Estate Agents, told realestate.com.au.
“Which typically cover sectors such as health, transport and roads, police, justice, and emergency services.”
So basically, without stamp duty, society will fall apart and everyone will be stealing e-scooters to get to a defunct hospital.
However, while stamp duty is necessary, it can suck for first-time homebuyers. Stamp duty can easily be over $10,000, which is a lot for most young people. This is why the NSW government currently offers first-home buyers a stamp duty exemption on homes that are valued up to $650,000.
However, the NSW Premier, Dominic Perrottet, wants to help first-home buyers even more. On October 11, Perrottet wrote in The Sydney Morning Herald that he wants to eradicate stamp duty for first-home buyers purchasing $1.5 million or lower homes.
“For many people, choosing the annual property fee won’t just remove one of the biggest up-front barriers to buying a home,” claimed Perrottet.
“It will also mean a significant tax saving if they go on to sell their first home in the short-to-medium term to meet the needs of a growing family or a job in a new location.”
Perrottet also stated that he wanted this idea to be legislated ASAP. If this happens on Perrottet’s timeline, the new rules will come into effect on January 16.
Related: Transport for NSW, Stop Stealing My Money
Related: NSW Will Give $2,000 Cash Back to Those Undergoing IVF Treatments
How Is the Opposition Reacting to This News?
According to Yahoo! News, NSW Labor is rejecting Perrottet’s proposition to quickly smash his stamp duty legislation through the parliamentary process.
As the Shadow Treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, asserted, “We would have much preferred he takes this policy to the election.”
He also noted, “The biggest change to NSW tax law in 50 years should not be rushed through the parliament in 15 days.”
Another person who doesn’t want to rush forward is the Greens MP, Abigail Boyd. As she told the ABC, “It’s not just an election gimmick, this is something that’s a really important reform. We need to get it right. Let’s send it to enquiry and have a really good look at it.”
It’s worth noting that if an enquiry goes ahead, getting said legislation through would be throughly delayed.
Read more stories from The Latch and subscribe to our email newsletter.