Growth areas infrastructure contribution

What is GAIC?

The growth areas infrastructure contribution (GAIC) was established to help provide infrastructure in Melbourne’s expanding fringe suburbs.

It is a one-off contribution, payable on certain events, usually associated with urban property developments, such as buying, subdividing, and applying for a building permit on large blocks of land.

Not all GAIC events will result in a liability being triggered at the time of the event. There are no liability events, excluded events and exemptions.

Generally, the GAIC does not apply to events involving land under 0.41 hectares (4,100 square metres or one acre).

Where does GAIC apply?

The GAIC only applies to land in the contribution area, which is growth area land zoned for urban use and development in the municipalities of:

• Cardinia
• Casey
• Hume
• Melton
• Mitchell
• Whittlesea
• Wyndham.

Our forms do not allow submissions for properties that are not located within one of these municipalities.

There are 4 types of land that may be affected: type A, B-1, B-2 and C. These different types of land became part of the contribution area and subject to the GAIC at different times, with different rates applying.

Affected land will have a GAIC recording placed over the title to the land which will restrict changes to title. This recording is only removed once the GAIC has been paid.

To facilitate the development of affected land, we issue a number of certificates and notices.

Is your land affected?

In most instances, if you are buying a new home on a residential lot in the contribution area, your developer will have already paid the GAIC as part of developing the land. 

However, if you buy or own an existing property, your land may be affected. We issue GAIC certificates, at no charge, which tell you the GAIC status of land and what, if any, liability exists.

Apply for a GAIC certificate

What is a GAIC event?

Four events trigger a GAIC liability on affected land:

• Transfers of title - these are transactions resulting in a change of ownership and are subject to land transfer duty. They include contracts of sale, sub-sales and any other transfers of the title of the land.
• Subdivisions - the issue of a statement of compliance (SOC) for a plan of subdivision. From 28 June 2023, the certification of a plan of subdivision submitted under section 35 of the Subdivision Act 1988 (a non-SOC plan of subdivision) will also trigger a GAIC liability.
• Building permits - an application for a building permit in the contribution area. 
• Significant acquisitions - these involve an acquisition in a landholder that owns affected land subject to landholder duty. A landholder is a private unit trust, private company, wholesale unit trust, a public unit trust or a listed company that has land holdings in Victoria with an unencumbered value of $1 million or more.

The GAIC is imposed when the first of these events takes place and affects the land until it is paid. Once fully paid, the GAIC recording over the land title is removed and the contribution will not apply to any subsequent GAIC events. 

If land outside the contribution area subsequently becomes part of the contribution area, the GAIC will be triggered on the first GAIC event after this happens.

Who is liable for the GAIC?

When affected land is sold or transferred, the new owner of affected land is liable. For a significant acquisition, both the acquirer(s) and the landholder are jointly and severally liable.

Otherwise, the owner of the land when the SOC is issued, or the building permit, is made is liable. Where a GAIC liability is triggered by the certification of a non-SOC plan of subdivision, the person whose land is being acquired by the acquiring authority will generally be liable.

No liability, excluded and exempt events

Not all GAIC events result in a GAIC liability being triggered at the time of the event. No-liability events, excluded events and exempt events do not trigger the GAIC.

Instead, these events postpone triggering the liability until the next GAIC event, unless an appropriate exemption or exclusion also applies to that event.

No liability events

No liability events include buying a lot of land that is:

• up to 5 hectares in area
• between 5 and 10 hectares which, before July 2010, had a house on it you could live in.

The GAIC may be triggered if you subdivide or apply for a building permit on this land.

Excluded events

There are a number of excluded events relating to affected land including:

• a subdivision to separate an existing house from a larger piece of land
• demolishing or repairing an existing building
• building works under the GAIC threshold, which is $1,444,370 for 2024-25
• certain events which happened before land became part of the contribution area.

Exemptions

Certain transfers and significant acquisitions in a landholder of affected land are exempt from GAIC.

These identified transfers and significant acquisitions are also exempt from duty, for example, the transfer of land pursuant to a deceased estate or the intergenerational transfer of a family farm.

Liability for the GAIC

Generally, if the GAIC event occurs after 1 July 2010 and the land is in the contribution area, the liability to pay the GAIC arises on the day of the event.

If your event happened between 2 December 2008 and 30 August 2010, depending on your circumstances, you may have a GAIC liability. 

Transfers of land

If you buy or are transferred affected land (even if you only buy part of or a part interest the land), you need to pay the GAIC unless it is a no-liability or excluded event, or an exemption applies.

In a sub-sale arrangement, the ultimate purchaser who is registered on title is liable to pay.

The GAIC is due within 3 months of the title being transferred, which is normally settlement. For example, if affected land is transferred on 1 March 2021, the GAIC must be paid on or before 1 June 2021.

Your GAIC liability is separate and additional to any land transfer duty that applies. 

Significant acquisitions

If you make a relevant acquisition in a landholder that owns affected land, both the acquirer(s) and the landholder are jointly and severally liable to pay GAIC in proportion to the acquisition that has occurred.

The GAIC is due within 3 months of the relevant acquisition unless the acquisition is a no liability, exempt or excluded event.

Please refer to our information on landholder duty for more details.

Subdivision or a building permit

If you own the affected land being subdivided or for which you are applying for a building permit, you need to pay the GAIC.

For subdivisions of land, GAIC must be paid within 3 months after the issue of the statement of compliance. For building permit applications, GAIC must be paid before the permit is issued.

You can, however, apply for a staged payment arrangement before the due date for payment.

Public purpose land subdivisions

If you subdivide land solely to provide land for a public purpose, you will trigger GAIC on that public purpose lot. The GAIC is proportional to the size of the public purpose lot.

You must make this payment within 3 months of the issue of the SOC for the plan of subdivision or the certification of the non-SOC plan of subdivision. There is no access to the staged payment arrangements in respect of these subdivisions.

However, public purpose land subdivisions will not trigger the GAIC on the rest of the land from which the public purpose lot is subdivided. The GAIC will become payable upon the next GAIC event on the balance of the land unless it is an excluded event or an exemption applies. 

Acquisition of land by an acquiring authority

In some circumstances land is acquired by an authority. Where this occurs, there may need to be a subdivision of that land pursuant to section 35 of the Subdivision Act 1988. As the subdivision is required to allow for the acquisition by the authority a SOC need not be issued for the subdivision to occur.

From 28 June 2023, if there is to be such a subdivision of the land, any GAIC liability attributed to that land must be paid by the landowner at the time of subdivision prior to the transfer by the acquiring authority.

This will only apply to a plan of subdivision that is submitted on or after 28 June 2023. 

If a plan of subdivision was submitted prior to 28 June 2023, then this will not apply, even if the transfer to the acquiring authority takes place on or after 28 June 2023.

GAIC rates

The GAIC rates for the 2024-25 financial year are:

• $115,530 per hectare for type A land 
• $137,230 per hectare for types B-1, B-2 and C land. 

GAIC rates increase annually by CPI. The indexed GAIC amount will be on the Department of Transport and Planning’s updated site for growth areas infrastructure contributions by 1 June of the preceding financial year.

Example of a GAIC calculation

Zara owns type-A land of 12 hectares in the contribution area. Zara transferred all her interests in the land to Chris in July 2023. That transfer will be the first GAIC event in relation to the land and as the transferee, Chris is liable to pay $1,386,360 (12 × $115,530) of GAIC.

View current GAIC rates 

View historical GAIC rates

Managing your GAIC liability

Pay the GAIC

Before paying the GAIC, you should contact us so we can advise you on the best way of managing your liability. To avoid penalties, you should contact us within 3 months of your liability arising.

If you trigger the GAIC by buying affected land, we normally need to see copies of the transfer of land and contract of sale. If you acquired the land through another arrangement, we need to see the documentary evidence of that arrangement. 

Apply for a no GAIC liability certificate

If you think that a no liability or an excluded event applies to your GAIC event on affected land, you can apply for a certificate of no GAIC liability. 

Apply for an exemption

If you think that an exemption applies to your transfer of affected land or significant acquisition, you can apply for an exemption. 

Deferring your liability

If you have triggered the GAIC by buying or being transferred affected land, or making a significant acquisition, you can apply to defer up to 100% of the GAIC liability until the next GAIC event.

You must apply before the due date for payment, that is within 3 months of the transfer or significant acquisition.

For a significant acquisition, an election to defer GAIC which is made by the acquirer of the interest in the landholder will be taken to have been made by all persons who are jointly and severally liable for the GAIC payment for that acquisition.

If a GAIC liability has been deferred, the GAIC liability may rollover to a subsequent transferee (the new land owner). However, a deferred GAIC liability will be subject to indexation and/or interest. Interest is calculated daily for the deferred period at the Victorian 10-year bond rate.

Significant acquisitions

If you made a significant acquisition in a landholder of land in the contribution area, you must lodge a GAIC acquisition statement within 3 months after the date of the acquisition. If the landholder has prepared and lodged this statement already, the acquirer need not lodge another one.

You can use the same statement to elect to defer the GAIC liability. You must lodge this statement even if a Section 83 Landholder Acquisition Statement has been lodged for the same acquisition under the Duties Act 2000. If you want to pay the GAIC, please contact us.

Staged payment arrangements

An approved staged payment arrangement allows you to pay the GAIC in stages aligning with the land's subdivision or development, rather than as a single payment.

If you want to pay the GAIC in stages, you must lodge a completed application for a staged payment approval with the Victorian Planning Authority (VPA) before the day on which the GAIC is payable.

You apply to the Minister for Planning through the VPA. You can apply before the event occurs, but you must apply before the payment due date.

If your application is approved, the liability becomes due on the dates specified in the arrangement subject to conditions.

Interest will accrue on the staged GAIC liability. The payment of interest is calculated daily for the period that the interest is payable on the staged GAIC liability at the Victorian 10-year bond rate applying from time to time.

You cannot apply for a staged payment arrangement if the GAIC was triggered by the issue of a SOC on a plan of subdivision, or the certification of a non-SOC plan of subdivision after 28 June 2023, for the sole purpose of providing for public purpose land.

Work-in-kind agreements

If you trigger the GAIC by subdividing or developing the land, you can apply to pay the GAIC through a work-in-kind agreement.

This is an agreement between you and the Minister for Planning under which you agree to provide land and/or works (construction of state infrastructure) instead of a cash payment to meet the GAIC liability in whole or in part. You apply to the Minister for Planning through the Victorian Planning Authority.

To be eligible, the land or works must be situated in a growth area and be of a type that can be funded from the Growth Areas Public Transport Fund or the Building New Communities Fund.

Please note these agreements may take considerable time to prepare so you should apply well before the GAIC event takes place.

If you choose to pay the GAIC this way, your agreement must be approved before your liability is due. 

Failure to pay the GAIC

Failure to pay the GAIC by the due date constitutes a tax default and the interest and penalty tax provisions of the Taxation Administration Act 1997 (TAA) will apply.

The whole amount of the GAIC becomes payable immediately as if it had not been deferred or staged.

Relief option

A reduction or exemption from paying the GAIC may be available from the Governor in Council under exceptional circumstances or if the GAIC liability would cause you financial hardship.

Administrative processes

The GAIC is administered in accordance with the TAA in respect of assessments, refunds, interest and penalty tax, objections and appeals, disclosure of information, investigation powers, recovery and other administrative provisions.

An application for a refund of overpaid GAIC must be made in accordance with the refund provisions in Part 4 of the TAA. 

Subdivisions involving public purpose land

Frontlink Pty Ltd v Commissioner of State Revenue [2016] VSC 25 concerned the application of the now repealed s201RF(b) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987, under which a subdivision of land for the sole purpose of providing land for transport infrastructure or any other public purpose is an excluded subdivision of land.

Landowners who believe that, as a result of this case, they may have overpaid GAIC should apply to us in accordance with the TAA refund provisions. You have 5 years from the date of the overpayment in which to apply, with applications considered on a case-by-case basis.

Section 201RF(b) was repealed by the State Taxation Acts Further Amendment Act 2016. Further, a landowner who now subdivides land for the sole purpose of setting aside land for a public purpose must pay the GAIC on that public purpose lot within 3 months of the statement of compliance being issued.

For more information on this change, refer to the GAIC - Public purpose land subdivisions information.

Apportionment of GAIC liability

The GAIC is designed to subsist with the affected land. Consistent with this fundamental principle, when land subject to a GAIC or deferred GAIC liability is subdivided, the GAIC or deferred GAIC is apportioned between the new lands in the resulting child titles.

Where land is to be subdivided into multiple lots or parcels (child lots), the GAIC or deferred GAIC liability will be apportioned across the child lots based on the area these lots in the contribution area bear to the area of the parent lot.

For example, if an area of land is to be subdivided into 2 equal lots in the contribution area, the GAIC liability will be apportioned equally across each of the new lots, i.e. 50% of the liability will be allocated to Lot 1 and the remaining 50% allocated to Lot 2. If only Lot 1 is in the contribution area (i.e. Lot 2 is wholly outside the contribution area), the GAIC liability will only be apportioned to Lot 1.

Objections to GAIC assessments

GAIC assessments are issued under the TAA. If you lodge an objection to a GAIC assessment, you must do so in writing within 60 days of the assessment's date of service. We will consider your objection in consultation with the Victorian Planning Authority.

You can only object if:

1. The folio of the register relating to the land was incorrectly recorded with a notification indicating that the land may be a land in a contribution area.
2. The GAIC is incorrectly assessed because the GAIC event is an excluded event or a no GAIC liability circumstance applies to the event that has occurred.
3. The assessment is inaccurate because the amount of the GAIC is incorrectly calculated. 
4. The GAIC is incorrectly assessed because the land is exempt from it under a specific duty exemption.