SOUTH
AUSTRALIA – LAND TAX
A
GUIDE TO LEGISLATION LAND TAX ACT, 1936
OUTLINE
OF LAND TAX SYSTEM
Land
tax together with an income tax was first introduced in South
Australia under the Taxation Act of 1884. They were new taxes in aid
of the general revenue of the State. Land tax is now levied under the
Land Tax Act, 1936. It is part of the general revenue of the State
and as such is applied towards financing the costs of the Government
including the
provision
of education, policy, social and other services for which no direct
charges are made.
METHOD
OF ASSESSMENT
Information
for the assessment of land tax is derived mainly from records
maintained by the Valuer-General’s Office by way of a computer
system. These records contained the identity of the land, its
ownership, use and site valuation. Information by annual returns from
land owners as applies in some other States is not required in South
Australia. However, changes in ownership of land must be notified in
certain circumstances and also changes of address for the service
notices.
Land
tax is billed by a computer system which is linked with the Land
Ownership and Tenure system to obtain alterations in the data
maintained by the Valuer-General. Accounts for payment describe the
land being taxed, however in some cases descriptions are abridged for
reason of space. The land assessed is also identified by an
Assessment Number which is the same as the Valuation Number allocated
by the Valuer-General for valuation purposes. Under the valuation of
Land Act the Valuer -General may, in his discretion, make a separate
valuation of any portion of any land or may value any land conjointly
with other land. This does not mean however that this valuation will
necessarily be treated as a legal parcel of land for land tax
purposes.
BASIS
OF THE TAX
Land
tax is calculated on the basis of determinations of the site value of
land in force under the Valuation of Land Act at midnight 30 June
preceding the financial year for which the tax is levied. The meaning
of ‘site value’ is defined in the Valuation of Land Act. in broad
terms it means the market value of the land disregarding the value of
any buildings or other improvements thereon.
DETERMINATION
OF SITE VALUE
The
Valuation of Land Act requires the Valuer-General to make new general
valuations within each area of the State at least once in every five
years. an area for the purpose is usually a municipality or a
district council area.
A
general valuation involves the determination of site value and other
forms of land value as may be required by the different rating and
taxing authorities. At present, it is the practice of the
Valuer-General to have revaluations made each year. This has made
possible since the introduction of computer assisted valuations in
1986.
Separate
notices of determination of site value are no longer issued by the
Valuer-General’s Office. Owners are now notified of these values on
accounts issued by the Taxing Authorities. A person who is
dissatisfied with the valuation of land may object to the
Valuer-General, either personally or by post. Such objection must
contain a full and detailed statement of the grounds on which the
objection is based.