See how land tax is calculated with a simple example.
Your land tax is based on the total site value of all your taxable land as at midnight on 31 December of the previous year. You can find the site value on your council rate notice.
Use these examples and our land tax calculator to estimate your land tax.
Check the current land tax rates for accurate calculations.
Example: Anika’s land tax assessment
At midnight on 31 December 2024, Anika owns:
- An investment property in Ballarat with a taxable value of $620,000
- A holiday house in Bright with a taxable value of $480,000
- An apartment in Melbourne which is her principal place of residence (PPR) and is exempt from land tax.
We calculate Anika’s land tax for 2025 using the total taxable value of the non-exempt land she owned on 31 December 2024:
- $620,000 + $480,000 = $1.1 million
The general land tax rate, including the COVID-19 debt temporary surcharge, for land valued from $1 million to $1.8 million is:
- $4,650 + 0.9% of any amount greater than $1 million
So, Anika pays:
- $4,650 + (($1,100,000 – $1,000,000) × 0.9%) = $5,550
Calculating proportional land tax
Proportional land tax shows how much tax applies to each taxable property if you own more than one property. You’ll find this breakdown on the statement of lands page of your assessment. We exclude your PPR and other exempt land.
We calculate the proportional land tax using this formula:
- (taxable value of a property ÷ total value of all taxable properties ) × total tax payable
In Anika’s case:
- Ballarat investment property - ($620,000 ÷ $1,100,000) × $5,550 = $3,128.18 (i.e. 56.4% of total).
- Bright holiday house - ($480,000 ÷ $1,100,000) × $5,550 = $2,421.82 (i.e. 43.6% of total).
