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Stamp Duty (now called Transfer Duty) to Cause a Stir

Altus Real Estate

04 December 2008

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When prices were increasing dramatically in Western Australia, people accepted, albeit somewhat begrudgingly, the imposed sales tax for buyers – otherwise known as Transfer Duty (formerly Stamp Duty).

I’m not sure that they will for much longer.
 
I was talking to some people recently who bought their house in July and now have to sell it.
 
The fact the market has dropped was painful enough for them.
 
The “sting in the tail” was the $55,000 Stamp Duty that they paid in the transaction costs. 
 
For the past few years, buyers have tolerated this tax.
 
The fact that their own properties, had increased – often at a substantial amount – somehow made this "rort" more palatable.
 
Now, the potential for loss is well and truly there, they are less likely to do so.
 
Perhaps the saving grace for the Government might be the relatively low number of home buyers at any given time – about 3 per cent of the population.
 
These people can create a noise, but because the majority of the voting public are not affected – they, like their predecessors, can perhaps afford to “put on the ear muffs.”   
 
This lack of action does not make the practice right though.   
 
Jamie Harrington (0413 009 962)
Director
Altus Real Estate

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