New Land Transfer Tax courtesy of NSW government

NSW government seems to have hoped nobody would notice their new property tax!

Just in case you didn't hear about it, Tony Kelly, the Minister for Lands, released details of this new tax buried in a press release focusing on security measures for land transfer documents!
Needless to say the announcement has outraged property groups, branding it "just another stamp duty increase" while the opposition calls the timing and method of the release "sneaky".

I don't see why politicians encourage such adverse reactions by blatantly sneaky announcements, they cannot really hope that the details will be ignored. It just gives the papers and the radio and the blogs :-) something more to write about. But wait - maybe that's the idea, letting us get excited about the sneaky release prevents us talking about the actual details of the tax. Subtle!

Glen Byers of the Property Council of Australia pointed out that the tax was introduced "without consultation, without explanation, at a time when the investment climate in NSW is fragile". The new tax will add $1500 tax for a typical $1.2M Beecroft property. They haven't yet said when it will be introduced, but apparently the revenue will be counted in the State budget on June 8.