You must notify SRO (State Revenue Office) by 15 January 2025 if you own a home that has been unoccupied for more than 6 months

From 1 January 2025, vacant residential land tax (VRLT) will expand to apply to all Victorian homes that are unoccupied for more than 6 months in a calendar year, unless an exemption applies. VRLT also applies to homes under construction, and those that are under renovation or uninhabitable, for more than 2 years.

VRLT is different from land tax. If you pay land tax, VRLT may also apply to you. The use of your property in 2024 – specifically, if it remained unoccupied for more than 6 months – will determine if you are liable for VRLT in 2025.

Are there exemptions?

Yes – some unoccupied homes may be exempt, such as holiday homes, a property that changed hands, and property that became residential in the prior calendar year.

Even if you believe your property is exempt, you still need to notify the State Revenue Office and apply for an exemption via the online notification portal.

You can learn more about exemptions on the SRO website.

What you need to do

If you own a residential home that was unoccupied for more than 6 months in 2024, you must notify the State Revenue Office by 15 January 2025.

If you have made a previous notification, you only need to make a new one if your circumstances have changed.

To access the notification portal, go to sro.vic.gov.au/vacantportal.

Failure to notify us by 15 January 2025 may result in penalty tax being imposed.

To learn more about the changes, visit sro.vic.gov.au/vacant.

 

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