The Marshall Liberal Government’s land tax grab, from small “mum and dad” investors, appears to be doomed following the decision by SA Labor to oppose the measure in State Parliament.
The fate of the Government’s Bill now rests in the hands of the minor parties in the Legislative Council.
Local Member of Parliament, Mr Tony Piccolo, spoke strongly in the House of Assembly against the proposal last week, following receipt of feedback from the local community.
Mr Piccolo informed the House that the feedback he had received had come from a wide cross-section of small business people and their advisers and revealed that the “land tax grab” would likely harm the economy and lead to job losses.
“The proposal reduces land taxes for big corporates, which will be paid for by higher taxes from the smaller property investors, particularly in the residential Market,” Mr Piccolo said.
Mr Piccolo also stressed in his speech to Parliament that in his view: “economic insecurity is probably the biggest issue facing the people in my community and it is through this lens that I have approached my assessment of what these land tax changes mean to people living in my community.”
“I have consulted with my community, and I will let their words speak for themselves.
“At the local level, I have received submissions from local real estate agents, local accountants, business advisers, lawyers and mum-and-dad investors.
“A local real estate agent told me that it takes 20 to 30 years of consistent application of savings to put together a portfolio of properties, risk borrowing lots of money, while hoping that it can be paid off.
“The proposed Marshall Liberal Government changes will have a negative impact on housing stock and rent.”
Mr Piccolo was advised that people have invested in property to prepare for their retirement, based on the rules of the day, and were now disadvantaged by the Marshall Liberal Government’s proposed changes to land tax aggregation laws.
“A local accountant said the aggregation changes will affect some of his clients substantially. This will increase their current land tax bills from one or two thousand dollars to tens of thousands [of dollars],” Mr Piccolo said.
“A small business couple who own a bed and breakfast business in Gawler told me that: ‘The Marshall Liberal Government’s proposed increases in Land Tax are unfair.
‘We are only mum and dad investors and have worked hard to secure our future, so we will not be a burden on the Federal Government come retirement time. ‘We don’t expect to get a pension or any other cash handouts because we have tried to secure our future for ourselves,’ they say.”
Mr Piccolo concluded that these local investors: “say that what this government is doing is hitting small investors and using that money to allow for deductions for the big end of town, which is something that this government has form on.”
The Marshall Liberal Government wants to push their Land Tax Bill through the Legislative Council prior to Christmas, so that the reforms can be implemented in time for the 2020-21 financial year.