2020 Land Tax COVID-19 Relief

August 28, 2020

About the Program

The NSW Government has introduced measures to provide relief to commercial and residential landowners, who provide a reduction in rent to a tenant who is experiencing financial distress as a result of COVID-19.

The 2020 land tax COVID-19 relief is intended to reduce a landowner’s land tax payable for 2020, by up to 25 per cent, for a taxable parcel of land where rent relief has been given to the tenant who occupies that land.

Landowners eligible for the reduction may also defer their land tax payments by up to three months.

Relief Available

Up to a 25% reduction of your 2020 land tax liability, being the lessor of the amount of the rent reduction provided to a tenant for any period between 1 April 2020 and 30 September 2020 or 25 per cent of the land tax attributable to the parcel of land leased to that tenant.
A 3-month payment deferral for outstanding land tax payments. If your application is successful, any payments remaining that need to be made will be automatically deferred for 3 months without interest.
If you have already paid your land tax for 2020, your reduction will be provided as a refund.
If you haven’t completed payment of your land tax for 2020, the relief will reduce or offset the amount of 2020 land tax payable.

Eligibility Criteria

You’ll be eligible if:

you’re leasing a parcel of land to:
- a commercial tenant, who has an annual turnover of up to $50 million
- or a residential tenant,
the tenant is in financial distress as a result of COVID-19,
you reduce the rent of the affected tenant for any period between 1 April 2020 and 30 September 2020, and
for 2020, you have land tax attributable to the parcel of land leased to that tenant.

Financial Distress

A tenant is considered to be in financial distress where:

for commercial tenants – there is a reduction in turnover compared to a previous comparable period of 30 per cent (or more),
for residential tenants – there is a reduction in household income of 25 per cent (or more).
You’re responsible for verifying that your tenant is in financial distress.

Rent Reduction

To be eligible, the rent reduction must not be required to be paid back at a later date. If a reduction in rent is provided but is required to be paid back at a later date, this is considered to be a deferral of rent and won’t be considered as a reduction of rent under this program.

If you’re not eligible for a reduction in land tax or a deferral in land tax payments under this program but you’re having difficulty paying, you can still apply for a payment plan to extend your payment dates.

How to apply

The relief application will be available through the Service NSW website and can be accessed now https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-covid-19-land-tax-relief
You will need your land tax client ID and land tax correspondence ID – these details can be found on your latest land tax assessment notice.
You will need evidence of your rental reduction. This can include copies of tenancy agreements proving rental reduction, rental ledgers, or a letter from your property manager.
You will need evidence of your tenants’ financial distress due to COVID-19. This can include their financial statements, or a letter from their accountant or property manager.

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Source: Revenue NSW, July 2020.

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