New stamp duty fear for Victorian aged
The Victorian Government is having a rethink about a proposed new stamp duty law which could result in elderly Victorians being taxed thousands of dollar when they enter retirement villages.
The legislation was designed to stop large companies avoiding stamp duty by leasing property rather than selling it but the crackdown may also catch retirement village leases in the amended tax net.
In a letter to the Law Institute of Victoria the Treasurer, John Lenders, admitted “the proposed amendments may apply to some of these leases. The Government is meeting with relevant stakeholder groups representing retirement village residents to discuss different options”.
The Aged and Community Care Victoria chief executive, Gerard Mansour, said that there were about 50,000 people in residential care in Victoria with 22,500 paying a bond.
“The average bond is $200,000 so that is $10,000 in stamp duty. We would be extremely surprised if we cannot work something out”.
