Land Tax Relief

The amount of reduction will be the lesser of:

• the amount of rent reduction provided to an eligible tenant at any point between 1 April 2020 and 30 September 2020, or
• 25% of the land tax attributable to the parcel of land leased to that tenant.

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.

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.

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.

If your application is successful, any payments remaining that need to be made will be automatically deferred for 3 months without interest.

Yes. In fact, it’s a requirement to notify us by submitting a new application if there has been a change in circumstances from when an initial application is submitted. 

Yes, you can apply for multiple properties at the same time in the one application.

Yes, you can lodge applications for multiple clients. However, you must complete an application before you can commence another one.

Revenue NSW will review your application and advise you of the decision.

Yes. Landowners that are trusts can apply for relief under this program.

Yes. Once your application has been processed, you will receive notification of the balance you have left payable. If your account is in credit once the relief has been applied, the credit balance will be refunded.

No. The relief only applies where the reduction can be passed on to an eligible tenant.

Yes, provided that the new tenant meets the eligibility requirement for this program and a rent reduction is being given to the new tenant.

Yes. When completing your application, simply add up the total rent amounts and rent reductions relating to only the eligible tenants on that parcel of land and provide supporting documents for each of these tenancies.

The application is currently only available through Service NSW. Contact Service NSW on 13 77 88 if you need assistance setting up an account.

The lessee of Crown or local government land is deemed to be the owner for land tax purposes. Therefore, a lessee under these arrangements can only apply for relief if they are subleasing the land to an eligible tenant under this program.

The requirement for commercial tenants to have less than $50 million in annual turnover to be eligible for relief under this program refers to the tenant’s annual turnover considering their total commercial activities, not just the commercial activities being conducted at the property where the rent reduction is being given.

Where the commercial tenant who is being given a rent reduction is part of a group of companies (i.e. there is one or more companies that are related to the commercial tenant) the annual turnover of the group of companies must be less than $50 million to be eligible for relief under this program.

Where a commercial tenant is a franchisee, the franchisor must meet the requirement to have less than $50 million in annual turnover to be eligible for relief under this program.