What Is the Victorian COVID Debt Land Tax Surcharge and When Does It End?
Victoria adds a COVID debt surcharge on top of ordinary land tax — a flat fee, more for bigger holdings. Here's how it's calculated and when it ends.
What is the Victorian COVID debt land tax surcharge?
The COVID debt land tax surcharge is an extra amount added on top of Victoria’s ordinary land tax bill. It isn’t a separate tax return or a separate assessment — it’s built into the same annual land tax assessment the State Revenue Office (SRO) Victoria already sends to owners of taxable Victorian land above the threshold.
It applies to land tax years from 2024 onwards, and — as at July 2026 — it’s still in effect. The amount you pay depends on the total taxable value of your Victorian land holdings, not on any single property.
The surcharge was legislated through the State Taxation Acts Amendment Act 2023 (Vic), No. 18/2023, which received Royal Assent on 27 June 2023. The land tax changes commenced the next day and apply from the 2024 land tax year.
How much is the surcharge?
The surcharge is a flat dollar amount at lower holding levels, and adds a small rate loading once a holding passes $300,000 in taxable value (or $250,000 for land held on trust). Here’s the current structure, as at July 2026:
| Total taxable Victorian land value | COVID debt surcharge |
|---|---|
| Below $50,000 | None — below the general land tax threshold |
| $50,000 to under $100,000 | Flat $500 |
| $100,000 to under $300,000 (under $250,000 for trusts) | Flat $975 |
| $300,000 and above ($250,000 and above for trusts) | $975 flat, plus an extra 0.10 percentage points added to the land tax rate |
A few things to note about that table. First, the surcharge is a flat fee at the two lower tiers — it doesn’t scale with the exact value within the band. Second, at the top tier, the flat $975 doesn’t disappear; the rate loading is added on top of it. Third, trust-held land moves into the top tier $50,000 sooner than individually held land does ($250,000 versus $300,000) — one of several ways the surcharge treats trusts differently from individual ownership.
How does the surcharge sit on top of ordinary Victorian land tax?
Ordinary Victorian land tax has its own threshold, separate from the surcharge table above. For individuals, the general threshold is $50,000 of total taxable Victorian land value — nothing is payable below that, and a $500 minimum assessment applies right at $50,000.
Land held on trust is treated differently again. Victoria has a separate, longstanding “trust surcharge” built into ordinary land tax (not the COVID debt surcharge this article is about) — its own threshold sits at $25,000, with trust surcharge rates starting above that point. That’s a different mechanism from the COVID debt surcharge table above, even though both use the word “surcharge” — the COVID debt surcharge tiers you saw earlier apply on top of whichever ordinary land tax basis (individual or trust) already applies to the holding.
Both the general thresholds and the COVID debt surcharge schedule apply across the 2024–2033 land tax years, which includes 2026. In practice, the two are worked out together on the one annual assessment, using the one taxable value — you don’t calculate them separately or receive two bills.
When is the surcharge due to end?
SRO Victoria describes the current settings as legislated to apply until 30 June 2033 — covering the 2024 to 2033 land tax years. Non-temporary (standard) rates are due to resume from the 2034 land tax year.
That’s the current legislated position as at July 2026, not a promise. Land tax thresholds and surcharges move with state budgets — Victoria has changed land tax settings before, and a future budget could change these again well ahead of 2033. Anyone relying on this for planning beyond the near term should check the SRO Victoria current-rates page directly before acting on it.
Does land tax — or the surcharge — apply to my home?
Every Australian state and territory that levies land tax exempts a genuine principal place of residence from the ordinary assessment, though the exact test for what counts as your principal residence differs by state. Because the COVID debt surcharge is calculated on the same taxable value as ordinary land tax, a holding that has no assessable land tax value because it’s your exempt home generally has no surcharge sitting on top of it either.
Whether a specific property qualifies for the exemption depends on the details of how it’s owned and used — that’s a question for SRO Victoria or a registered tax agent, not something this article can answer in general terms.
Is this the same as Vacant Residential Land Tax?
No. Victoria also has a separate tax called Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT), which applies to taxable residential land that sits vacant — not genuinely lived in, and not under a genuine lease — for more than six months of the preceding calendar year. VRLT is assessed on the property’s Capital Improved Value (CIV — broadly, the value of the land plus what’s built on it), has no tax-free threshold, and its own rate structure that steps up the longer a property stays vacant. It’s a different tax, calculated a different way, and the two shouldn’t be confused with each other.
What this means if you hold Victorian land as an investor
Land tax — including the COVID debt surcharge — is an ongoing holding cost, not a one-off. If you’re weighing up an investment property in Victoria, or you already hold Victorian land, the surcharge is one more line item to factor into your running costs alongside things like council rates, insurance and property management fees, on top of whatever ordinary land tax already applies to your total Victorian land holdings.
How land tax interacts with your own situation — including whether you hold property individually or through a trust, and what your total Victorian land value looks like across multiple properties — depends on your circumstances. Tax outcomes depend on your circumstances — speak with a registered tax agent before acting.
For a broader look at how the numbers behind an investment property fit together, our guide to property investment in Australia walks through the mechanics. Our piece on cash flow positive versus negatively geared property covers how holding costs like this one feed into the cash flow side of owning an investment property.
[REVIEW: to be reviewed by a registered tax agent — arranged by
