Important Tax Deadlines for Victorian Property Owners in 2025

Navigating property taxes can be challenging, but staying informed is key to avoiding penalties and ensuring compliance. If you own residential property in Victoria, two critical notifications are due by 15 January 2025—the Vacant Residential Land Tax Notification and the Absentee Owner Surcharge Notification. Here’s everything you need to know about these requirements and how they might apply to your property.

What is the Vacant Residential Land Tax?

The Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT) is an annual tax applied to residential properties in Victoria that were vacant for more than six months throughout the preceding year.

The CIV is listed on your council rates notice, and you can use the Vacant Residential Land Tax Calculator available on the State Revenue Office website to estimate your liability.

Who Needs to Notify?

If your residential property was vacant for more than six months in 2024, you must notify the Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) online by 15 January 2025. This includes holiday homes and other dwellings that were unoccupied for extended periods. Notifications are required only if your circumstances have changed since your last submission.

For more details or to notify the SRO, visit the Vacant Residential Land Tax Notification page.

Absentee Owner Surcharge

The Absentee Owner Surcharge applies to individuals, corporations, and trusts classified as absentee owners and owning land in Victoria. If you are an absentee owner as of 31 December 2024, you are required to notify the SRO by 15 January 2025.

Who Qualifies as an Absentee Owner?

Absentee ownership criteria include:

Absentee Individuals

• is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and
• does not ordinarily reside in Australia, and
• was either absent from Australia:
  • on 31 December of the year prior to the tax year, or
  • for more than 6 months in total in the calendar year prior to the tax year.

Absentee Corporations

• incorporated outside Australia, or
• in which an absentee person(s) has a controlling interest.

Trustees of Absentee Trusts

An absentee trust can be a discretionary trust, a unit trust or a fixed trust, which has at least one beneficiary who is an absentee person. In the case of a:

• discretionary trust, the trust has at least one ‘specified beneficiary’ who is an absentee person.
• unit trust, the trust has at least one unitholder who is an absentee person.
• fixed trust, the trust has at least one beneficiary who is an absentee person and has a beneficial interest in land held subject to the trust.

The absentee owner surcharge does not apply to excluded or administration trusts.

The rules vary depending on ownership structure. For detailed definitions and examples, visit the SRO website.

Key Deadlines and Next Steps

• 15 January 2025 – Notifications for both the Vacant Residential Land Tax and Absentee Owner Surcharge are due.

• Use the Vacant Residential Land Tax Calculator to confirm your liabilities.

• If circumstances regarding property occupancy or ownership have changed, submit your notifications online as soon as possible.

Stay Compliant with Minimal Stress

Managing property compliance doesn’t need to be overwhelming. If you’re a property owner, ensure you mark 15 January 2025 on your calendar to avoid unnecessary fines or complications with your land tax.

If you have any issues or disputes about your land tax contact one of our tax lawyers to discuss how we may help.

For more information or assistance on how to submit your notifications, visit the relevant pages on the SRO website sro.vic.gov.au/education for webinars and resources.

About The Author - Glenn Duker

Glenn Duker is Managing Partner, and founder, of PCL Lawyers. Glenn has a Bachelor of Laws / Arts from the University of Melbourne and was admitted to practice more than 25 years ago. He has...