Land Tax Act 1915

A selection of original provisions from the Land Tax Act 1915 as enacted on 29 December 1915

'Be it enacted by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

4.(5.)  Until other appointment the Commissioner of Income Tax appointed under The Income Tax Act of 1902 shall be the Commissioner of Land Tax, and his official designation for the purposes of that Act and this Act shall be 'Commissioner of Taxes'.

10.(2.)  Land tax shall be paid on such day or days, and either in one sum or by instalments of equal varying amounts, and at such place or places, as may be prescribed.

'Any taxpayer or person may appeal to the Supreme Court or a District Court against any assessment by the Commissioner on the ground that the assessment is excessive'

16.(1.)  For the purposes of the assessment and levy of land tax, every owner of land of the unimproved value of two hundred pounds or upwards shall in each financial year, in the prescribed manner and within the prescribed time, furnish returns setting forth a full and complete statement of all land owned by him at midnight on the thirtieth day of June then last past, and of improved value and unimproved value of every parcel thereof, and, for the purpose of the additional tax on undeveloped land, of the value of the improvements on every parcel of land, with such other particulars as are prescribed:

27.(1.)  Any taxpayer or person may within the prescribed time appeal to the Supreme Court or a District Court against any assessment by the Commissioner with respect to his land, on the ground that he is not liable for the tax or any part thereof, or that the assessment is excessive.

31.  If the Commissioner is of opinion that the owner of any land has, in a return furnished under this Act, understated the unimproved value of the land, to the extent of twenty-five per centum or more, the following provisions shall apply:

(a)  The Commissioner may apply to the Supreme Court for a declaration that the Crown is entitled to acquire the land under this Act.
(g)  The Governor in Council may authorise the use of the land for any public purpose for which it is required; or, if it is not required for any public purpose, may authorise the disposal of it as he thinks fit.

46.  In any case where it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioner that a taxpayer liable to pay land tax has become insolvent, or has suffered such a loss that the exaction of the full amount of tax will entail serious hardship, or that, by reason of drought or adverse seasons or other adverse conditions, the returns from the land have been seriously impaired, the Commissioner may release such taxpayer wholly or in part from his liability, and the Commissioner may make such entries and alterations in the assessment as are necessary for that purpose.

'Where a taxpayer liable to pay land tax has become insolvent, the Commissioner may release such taxpayer wholly or in part from his liability'

50.  Any person who by any wilful act, default, or neglect, or by any fraud, art, or contrivance whatever, evades or attempts to evade assessment or taxation, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five hundred pounds and treble the amount of the tax, payment whereof he has evaded or attempted to evade; or to forfeiture of the land in respect of which the offence was committed, or any part thereof.

54.  All penalties imposed under this Act shall be recoverable in a summary way under The Justices Acts, 1886 to 1909, upon the complaint of any person appointed by the Commissioner either generally or for the purpose of any particular case, and when recovered shall be paid into the Consolidated Revenue.

The following are extracts from the Second Reading speech by the Treasurer, Edward G Theodore, who introduced the Land Tax Bill into the Legislative Assembly on 23 November 1915.

First part of speech—Policy reasons for imposing land tax

'The land tax was decided upon, not merely because it has been a well known part of the financial policy of the Labour party for a number of years, but because it is a financial policy which is sound.

It can be stated that the principle of taxation of land values has the effect—the incontestable effect—of destroying, or tending towards destruction, of private monopolies in land.

'The evil effects of monopoly in land ownership leads to certain results'

It has the additional effect of forcing into use lands which at present, and under ordinary circumstances, remain idle at the mere caprice of the owner of the land, and without regard to the general interests of the community; and it also enables the Government to impose a tax on the truest economic basis, upon the unearned increment of land values.

The evil effects of monopoly in land ownership leads to certain results which are well known. It compels people in large cities to herd together in slums or to live under tenement conditions.

Those are the evils that are well known in other countries, and which will inevitably come about in Queensland, unless the problem is dealt with in the early stages of our development, as we are attempting to deal with it in this measure.

Yes, all those little places in Queens street and George street whose value runs to many thousands of pounds. All areas of land will be brought under the scope of the tax, whether they are used for residential purposes, business places, or anything else. The inevitable result of a land tax will be to reduce the price of land, and it will do away with land speculation, because it will make it unprofitable.'

'The inevitable result of a land tax will be to reduce the price of land'

Second part of speech—Operational aspects of the Bill

'The Bill is more or less a machinery measure.

There is provision made for proper assessment of the tax, and there is provision that owners of all land worth ₤200 and upwards must furnish returns, even although the exemption applies up to ₤300. They are not necessary for assessment purposes, but for the purpose of arriving at the value of the lands, and to enable the commissioner to say whether a person is liable to taxation.

The commissioner is the person who assesses the tax, and who has the right to say whether the valuation is correct or not.

Power is given to the Government to acquire land if the valuation is understated to the extent of 25 per cent.

The person himself will give the value. The making of a drain or fence, or anything that would enhance the land over the unimproved value must be taken as an improvement. 

'Power is given to the Government to acquire land if the valuation is understated ... the person himself will give the value'

Ring-barking is an improvement, the finding of water is an improvement, and I do not think there will be any difficulty in regard to that. The landowner in furnishing his return sets out his estimate of the unimproved value of the land that is liable to be taxed by the land tax commissioner, and the commissioner may assess it at a higher valuation, in which case the taxpayer may appeal to the Supreme Court.'

In 1910, the Commonwealth Government introduced a tax on land. This tax was used to:

• raise revenue to defend the nation
• prepare for a major increase in migration
• encourage large landholders (many of whom were wealthy Englishmen who would rarely visit or use their land) to subdivide their land and sell it to settlers, who would use the land productively. 

In 1947, the state government asked the federal government to return 4 taxes to the states—payroll, entertainment, land tax and estate duties. This proposal was rejected by the then Prime Minister, Joseph Benedict Chifley, as he held the view that some states had never been better off, due to the generosity of the Commonwealth and the money collected during the war years.

However, by July 1952, the Commonwealth land tax was abolished. The Treasurer, Sir Arthur Fadden (while introducing the Bill into the House of Representatives), gave a number of reasons why:

• The tax was not achieving its stated objective of breaking up the big estates—75% of the tax came from city areas which were already subdivided.
• The growth in income tax meant that there was not as great a need for the money raised from taxing land.
• Administrative costs would be greatly reduced.

Opinions on the land tax were mixed—some thought it was necessary for community growth, while others saw it as unjustly taxing the farmers and graziers.

The following extracts were taken from letters to the editor published in The Brisbane Courier.

10 May 1886

Sir,

I wish to draw attention through the medium of your paper to the ruinous loss of property that Queensland landowners will sustain if the present Government are allowed to carry out their proposed programme.

If owners of country lands are to be ruined by such a stupendous land tax, why should not owners of town lands share the same fate? We are told, 'because the prejudices of the people must be respected,' which means that the townsman is powerful enough to protect his interests but that the countryman is not. The townsman may rest assured that if he combines with the Government to ruin us, we will combine to ruin him, and will have such a land tax put on town allotments that their value will depreciate considerably below the price he paid for them.

'The ruinous loss of property that Queensland landowners will sustain if the present Government are allowed to carry out their proposed programme'

If these kinds of experiments are to be tried on us, the best wish I can give to my native district of Rockhampton is, that she may go in for separation, and leave the southern part of the colony to enjoy the chaos that will result from the introduction of such laws.

G. L. G. MACDONALD.

25 August 1887

Further, I maintain, sir, that the effect of a land tax will be to lower rents, for, when a man who holds land for speculative purposes has to pay a land tax, he is compelled either to use it himself or sell to someone who will, or keep it at a loss. Being a sensible man he will choose the former alternative, and the increased quantity of land by this means made available for useful purposes must, by the inexorable law of supply and demand, cause a lowering of rents.

'The effect of a land tax will be to lower rents'

For these reasons I think that the heavily rated and rack-rented tenants have something to hope for and nothing to fear from the adoption of a land tax. Those who tell them otherwise probably speak without knowledge or authority.

JAMES G. DRAKE. Calton House, 23rd August.

8 November 1893

Sir,

The above subject [land tax], which was touched upon in your editorial columns yesterday, is generally coming to be estimated in this and the other colonies as a subject of great importance. Its advocates claim that it will be a factor of potent influence in determining the pressing question of the 'more equable distribution of wealth' and expect to see it force itself to the very front in colonial politics in the near future.

The object is to ascertain the conditions under which taxation will yield a maximum of revenue with a minimum of burden to the community. The tax in question conforms to these canons to a greater extent than any other tax. Its effect would not be immediate or sudden, but its tendency would be to shape the development of social conditions in the right direction, and to check the present tendency to inequality which governs the laws of the distribution of wealth.

'Its tendency would be to shape the development of social conditions in the right direction'

CITIZEN. Brisbane, 4th November.

6 October 1933

The speculations to which we have been treated for some time past as to the prospects of a wonderful budget are no doubt carefully prepared statements by the publicity department of the Prime Minister, but his budget speech must have been most difficult of delivery owing to the large amount of tongue stuffed in his cheek.

From a Prime Minister I should have expected at least performance of his definite promise to abolish Federal land tax when 'budget equilibrium was attained'.

'Perhaps the huge surplus has spoilt the equilibrium again'

These are his words, not mine, but perhaps the huge surplus has spoilt the equilibrium again, and he has broadcasted the money extracted by way of land tax, etc, in the relief of pleasure hunters, who are not now required to pay entertainments tax.

For what it is worth, I have wired the Prime Minister to-day as follows: 'Astounded at your breach of promise to abolish land tax when budget equilibrium was attained'.

J.T. ISLES

13 October 1933

Sir,

We read when the budget was announced, that the Government had made provision for the restoration of automatic increases to civil servants, to cost some £60,000 per annum. To-day we are told that the Land Tax Act is to be amended, so as to reimpose the super land tax.

So we find that while one portion of the dwellers in the beehive is to be fed on honey, the other portion is to be sweated to produce the honey.

'Who wouldn't be a farmer?'

Who wouldn't be a farmer? Every day twelve hours, every week seven days—much nicer than being a civil servant, every day eight hours, every week five days, golf clubs out on Saturday.

'BUSH BEE'. West End.