During the 2025 calendar year you may have inherited, purchased or otherwise acquired land in NSW for the first time and may now be liable to pay land tax. For those who already own land, any additional acquisitions during the year may require you to re-assess your obligations given your total land holdings. Additionally, the value of land you previously held may have been revalued and is now above the threshold.
Revenue NSW administers land tax and provides detailed guidance on registration, thresholds and exemptions. The key points for 2026 are summarised below.
What is land tax?
Land tax is a tax on the ownership of land held at midnight on 31 December each year in NSW. Land includes:
- Vacant land, including vacant rural land
- Land where a house, residential unit or flat has been built
- Holiday homes
- Company title units
- Residential, commercial or industrial units including car spaces
- Commercial properties, including factories, shops and warehouses
- Land leased from State or Local government
Who needs to pay?
An owner with one or more parcels of taxable land is liable for land tax. For land tax purposes, an owner is defined as any of the following:
- Sole owner
- Joint owner
- A company (includes a company in an approved share equity scheme)
- Trustee of any trust
- Beneficiary of a trust
- Society or organisation whose land is not exempt from land tax
- Unit holders with interests in unit trusts
- Trustees of superannuation funds — including SMSFs that hold property
If you are currently registered
An assessment will issue in due course with upfront or instalment plan payment options available as in previous years. If any details on the assessment (including details about the land you own) are incorrect, a variation should be submitted by the first instalment date.
If you are not currently registered
If the combined value of your proportion of the unimproved taxable land (not including your private residence) owned at 31 December 2025 exceeds $1,075,000 you will need to apply for a pre-registration online for each owner of the property. Register via Revenue NSW.
Calculating your liability
If you exceed the threshold of $1,075,000 for general land or $6,571,000 for premium land, you will pay $100 plus 1.6% of the excess for general land, and $88,036 plus 2% of the land value above the premium land threshold.
Additionally, if you hold residential land in a discretionary trust and have not amended your deed to exclude any potential foreign beneficiary before midnight, you will pay a flat 2% of the value of your land — known as land tax surcharge — in addition to the land tax that would ordinarily be levied.
Although principal place of residence is generally exempt from land tax, it will become assessable where your ownership of the property is less than 25%. This change came into effect from February 2024 for new properties. Where your principal place of residence was owned prior to February 2024 and you did not own at least 25% of the property, it will become assessable for the 2026 and subsequent years.
Land tax interacts with your broader property advice and individual tax position. If you think you may have a land tax liability or are unsure of your obligations, please contact us as soon as possible so we can help you determine your tax position for the 2026 land tax year.