REIV demands urgent overhaul of coronavirus land tax process

The Real Estate Institute of Victoria has called for urgent changes to the process for commercial property landlords to apply for land tax relief.

In a letter to state treasurer Tim Pallas, the Victorian real estate body appealed for changes to avoid “greatly disadvantaging” commercial property owners through overly an overly bureaucratic application process.

Under the current land tax relief scheme, once a landlord completes rent relief negotiations with a tenant, the tenant must complete an online form to enable their landlord to apply for land tax concessions.

But REIV president Leah Calnan says landlords should not be at the mercy of their tenants when it comes to accessing assistance.

“Our primary concern is that there are no incentives or consequences for the tenant if they fail or refuse to do this,” Calnan says.

“The commercial property owner is at the mercy of their tenant to apply for the tax relief promised by the government.”

“The process is not fair for the landlord and their agent who have, in good faith, negotiated (a) rent reduction for the tenant as per government guidelines but are unable to claim the promised land tax relief because their tenant fails to complete the form.”

Calnan says should be supported equally during the COVID-19 pandemic, and pointed out that most landlords are ‘mum and dad’ investors, rather than wealthy institutional investors.

Under the process outlined on the State Revenue Office’s website, tenants are required to complete an online form and then send it to their landlord by downloading and emailing it, or emailing to themselves before forwarding the form on.

But Calnan suggests the onerous requirements should be overhauled, or removed completely.

“The Real Estate Institute of Victoria urgently requests that an alternative process be enabled to ensure landlords are not unduly disadvantaged,” she says.

“In order to manage the financial impact for both the landlord and the tenant, the rent relief could be only initiated after the form has been submitted or even better, the process scrapped.”