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The government of Victoria has proposed several amendments to the state’s property taxation laws.
New amendments explained
Under the amendments, the revenue office hopes to expand vacant residential land tax to all vacant residential land in Victoria from the 2025 tax year. The amendments also expand the definition of vacant
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A Melbourne landlord recently found themselves in hot water after their tenant pointed out an invalid rent increase. The tenant alerted the agent to the improper reasoning given for the increase and was subsequently back-paid for the invalid increase.
As a landlord, it is important you know the ins and
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Investors who rent their property out on short-stay accommodation platforms like Airbnb and Stayz will soon face an additional tax charge.
The Victorian government has announced it plans to introduce a 7.5% levy on short-stay rental platforms, effective from 1 January 2025. The fees collected will fund Homes Victoria, supporting
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You may need to look at the contracts you use in your business because, come 9 November, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) will prohibit businesses from using unfair contract terms.
According to the new regulations, courts will have the authority to impose significant penalties on businesses using contracts
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As Australia’s spring selling season kicks off, some vendors might consider going down the do-it-yourself (DIY) conveyancing route to save money. But while it can be tempting, particularly given the current cost of living, there are many risks involved in managing your own conveyancing.
Providing legal protection
When using a
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Two cases in Australia in the last few months have once again highlighted the need to exercise caution when posting on social media. The two cases, one in Queensland and one in Western Australia, concern statements of defamation posted on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
In 2021, changes to Victorian defamation
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Melbourne might be Australia’s most affordable city to rent a house, with a median rent of $520 per week during the June quarter, according to Domain’s house price report.
But nonetheless, the state government recently indicated it’s considering rent controls as part of a new housing package. The rent controls
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The Victorian government has abolished stamp duty on commercial and industrial property in favour of an annual property tax, which it hopes will raise an extra $50 billion.
The system will be phased in starting from 1 July 2024 and apply to any commercial and industrial properties as they are
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If a customer leaves an unfair online review, your first step could be to ask the customer or site owner to remove the review. But if they refuse, can you take the matter further?
In NSW, a disgruntled customer left a one-star review about a painter claiming the painter “caused
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The construction of 1,700 dwellings is in limbo after builder Porter Davis Homes collapsed. Of these, about 250 homes were close to completion, according to the liquidator Grant Thornton.
Although several companies wanted to buy some of Porter Davis Homes’ assets, no buyers were willing to buy all the assets
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In April, Prestige Truck Bodies was fined $225,000 for creating unsafe working conditions after a worker was crushed to death. The workers were lifting heavy materials which slipped and crushed the floor manager.
In this case the employer should have trained the employees to recognise that a container was unsafely
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When you use a brand name or specific mark, you should register it as a trademark to prevent other Australian businesses from using it.
Before registering a trademark, IP Australia will check that there aren’t competing trademarks in Australia, but not internationally.
Registering a trademark protects it in all the
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Currently, buy-now-pay-layer services like Afterpay, Zip and Klarna are exempt from laws designed to protect consumers from taking out credit they can’t afford.
That’s because BNPL providers don’t charge customers interest so, technically, the product they provide isn’t credit.
However, following concerns consumers are racking up unaffordable debts, the sector
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The federal government’s Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act became law in December 2022.
The act amends several existing workplace rules and introduces new ones with the aim of boosting wage growth and job security, tackling gender inequality and modernising the workplace bargaining system.
By far the
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Australia has the tightest industrial and logistics property market in the world after vacancy rates fell to just 0.6% in the second half of 2022, according to CBRE figures.
It’s set to stay that way too, given that a supply crunch means vacancies are likely to remain tight even if
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Unprecedented construction activity is being seen across all sectors and in all Australian states and territories, according to a new report from Rider Levett Bucknall.
The September 2022 quarter report from the global construction, property and management consultancy said the Australian construction industry is at a “pivotal point” with decade
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From 1 July 2023, if you own land in Victoria, and it’s rezoned and subsequently goes up in value, you may have to pay a windfall gains tax of up to 50% on the total value uplift.
The Victorian government says this will return a share of the profits from
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The federal government has released its ‘Nature Positive Plan: Better for the Environment, Better for Business’ in response to Professor Graeme Samuel’s independent review of Australia’s 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
The response commits the federal government to establishing a new environmental protection agency (EPA) with the power
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Melbourne-based Hallbury Homes entered administration in January, with 50 projects on its books, according to The Property Tribune.
While Hallbury Homes is the latest casualty in Australia’s embattled building industry, challenging trading conditions aren’t limited to the construction sector – with nearly 4,000 corporate insolvencies occurring over the 2021-22 financial
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Victoria’s upper house of parliament recently voted to look into whether stamp duty should be scrapped after Liberal Democrats minister David Limbrick moved the motion to establish an inquiry into the ‘worst tax’.
The wide-ranging inquiry will look into the impact of stamp duty on housing supply, labour mobility and
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The federal government has announced that the Modernising Business Register program will be independently reviewed after Treasury estimated it would cost $1 billion more than originally budgeted for under the previous government.
The Modernising Business Register project will see more than 30 ASIC business registers consolidated into a single platform
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ChatGPT has taken the world by storm since its release in November 2022, with the chatbot signing up 1 million users in just five days (a milestone it took Netflix 41 months to pass).
And while some have delighted with ChatGPT’s ability to generate eloquent responses to prompts by users,
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A property settlement can be delayed for many reasons, such as finance issues, problems with the property or the buyer being unable to sell their existing home.
In Victoria, if the buyer is unable to settle on the settlement date, the seller can charge penalty interest. The exact amount will
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Commercial rent collection in Victoria has tumbled, falling from 88% at the beginning of the year to 70% in May, according to data property management platform Re-Leased.
The industrial sector has been hit particularly hard, as rising petrol prices have taken their toll on companies’ bottom lines. As a result,
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Company directors need to verify their identity and apply for a director ID as part of a new statutory requirement that came into effect on 1 November 2021.
A director ID Is a unique 15-digit identifier given to directors who have verified their identity with Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS).
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The New South Wales government is planning to overhaul its property tax regime by giving first home buyers the choice between making a one-off, upfront stamp duty payment or paying a smaller, annual land tax instead.
This prompted the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, Housing Industry Association and Australian Property
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Cash flow is the lifeblood of every small business, which is why it’s challenging for businesses to meet their expenses when customers are slow to pay their bills.
Unfortunately, though, it’s a common problem, with more than half of Australia’s big businesses failing to pay their small suppliers on time,
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The Victorian government’s shared equity scheme has proven very popular, with the program down to its last 200 places, according to new figures from the State Revenue Office.
The figures show the $500 million Homebuyer Fund had invested more than $260 million by the end of June this year, helping
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The Victorian government’s shared equity scheme has proven very popular, with the program down to its last 200 places, according to new figures from the State Revenue Office.
The figures show the $500 million Homebuyer Fund had invested more than $260 million by the end of June this year, helping
This post was originally published on this site
Cash flow is the lifeblood of every small business, which is why it’s challenging for businesses to meet their expenses when customers are slow to pay their bills.
Unfortunately, though, it’s a common problem, with more than half of Australia’s big businesses failing to pay their small suppliers on time,
This post was originally published on this site
The New South Wales government is planning to overhaul its property tax regime by giving first home buyers the choice between making a one-off, upfront stamp duty payment or paying a smaller, annual land tax instead.
This prompted the Real Estate Institute of Victoria, Housing Industry Association and Australian Property
This post was originally published on this site
Company directors need to verify their identity and apply for a director ID as part of a new statutory requirement that came into effect on 1 November 2021.
A director ID Is a unique 15-digit identifier given to directors who have verified their identity with Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS).
This post was originally published on this site
A property settlement can be delayed for many reasons, such as finance issues, problems with the property or the buyer being unable to sell their existing home.
In Victoria, if the buyer is unable to settle on the settlement date, the seller can charge penalty interest. The exact amount will
This post was originally published on this site
Commercial rent collection in Victoria has tumbled, falling from 88% at the beginning of the year to 70% in May, according to data property management platform Re-Leased.
The industrial sector has been hit particularly hard, as rising petrol prices have taken their toll on companies’ bottom lines. As a result,
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Planning on building or developing property in central Melbourne? A new code of practice for building, construction and works in the City of Melbourne took effect on March 17.
This regulatory framework sets out the requirements that must be put in place at construction sites to ensure the safety and
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Commercial disputes are inevitable no matter the industry.
Take, for example, a long-running dispute between construction giant CIMIC and engineering services firm JKC Australia, which has just ended with CIMIC agreeing to make a $492.5 million payment.
That obviously wasn’t a good result for CIMIC. But the battle, which lasted
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A perfect storm of rising costs, supply issues and labour shortages has hit the Australian building industry, compounding problems caused by Covid-19 shutdowns.
As a result, several building firms have collapsed in recent months – including industry giants Probuild and Condev.
Master Builders Victoria has already warned these challenging business
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The high-profile collapse of Probuild and Condev has shone a light on the perfect storm facing the Australian construction industry, with rising costs and supply chain issues putting pressure on many firms.
And now there is a new threat to add to that list: a worsening skills shortage.
Global consultancy
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The Victorian government handed down its election-year budget earlier this month – boosted by a $15 billion windfall in land taxes and stamp duty from the booming property market.
While revenue from land tax is expected to increase to $4.8 billion next financial year, stamp duty revenue is projected to
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Victorians are paying the highest stamp duty in Australia, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA).
HIA’s annual Stamp Duty Watch Report found Victorian homebuyers paid an average of $40,370 in stamp duty in November 2021 – equivalent to around 5% of the state’s median property price ($755,000).
In comparison, homebuyers
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Victoria’s hospitality sector has been given a welcome boost, under new liquor reforms announced by the state government.
The new rules will mean bars, hotels, restaurants and cafes will now be able to serve alcohol until 1am without having to apply for a change to their licence (subject to any
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Victoria’s real estate industry has been placed under greater scrutiny, after the state government announced a review of underquoting laws, off-the-plan sales and agent conduct.
The review comes amid heightened affordability concerns due to rapid rises in property prices. So the public is being encouraged to have their say on
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After almost two years, Australia is reopening its international borders again to fully vaccinated travellers. The move will likely give a significant boost to our economy, thanks to the return of tourists, business travellers and migrants.
So if you’ve been considering starting a business, this could be your year to
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The Victorian Government has extended the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme (CTRS) for two months until 15 March 2022.
CTRS is designed to support struggling retail and commercial tenants and encourage renegotiation of terms.
Alongside the extension come new regulations. While the 2022 regulations are broadly similar to the previous CTRS
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If you’re like many Victorians, you’ve probably dreamed of owning a pub, whether for commercial or lifestyle reasons.
There are several reasons why it might make more sense to buy an established pub rather than starting one from scratch. You get a business with an existing customer base and can
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Despite your best intentions, business relationships can deteriorate for any number of reasons.
So while it’s not a legal requirement to have a formal shareholders’ agreement, every company with more than one shareholder would be well advised to have one.
Read on to find out what a shareholder agreement is
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It can be easy to see the attraction of selling a tenanted property. You get monthly rent rolling into your bank account right up until the deal goes through – which will likely come in handy paying the mortgage down.
But having tenants in the property can add another level
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Australian businesses that sell liquor have to follow a strict set of regulations. These rules are in place for a reason – to keep patrons and staff safe. Should you not comply, you could face stiff fines or lose your licence.
To avoid this, make sure you adhere to the
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It’s not uncommon for customers to skip or gloss over a company’s terms and conditions. So you may think: “If customers don’t bother reading the fine print, why should I bother creating them?”
Well, there are good reasons not to overlook or minimise the importance of a detailed set
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It’s natural to assume that since you own your property, you can do what you like with it – subject to planning, of course. But this might not necessarily be the case, particularly if there’s a restrictive covenant hiding in the small print of your certificate of title.
What’s a restrictive