Queensland Land Tax Calculator

Land tax QLD: who pays and on what land

Queensland land tax is charged on the freehold land you own in Queensland at midnight on 30 June. You get an assessment when the total taxable value of that land is $600,000 or more if you are an individual who mainly lives in Australia, or $350,000 or more if you are a company, a trustee, a super fund or an absentee. Freehold land includes vacant land, houses and investment properties, lots in building unit and group title plans, timeshare lots and lots owned by a home unit company.

For land tax, an absentee is a foreign individual (New Zealand citizens included) who does not hold a permanent visa and does not usually live in Australia. Australian citizens and permanent visa holders are never absentees, wherever they live.

Ownership on 30 June is all that counts. The Queensland Revenue Office (QRO) does not split the year between buyer and seller: the seller is normally the owner until settlement, unless the buyer takes possession earlier, for example under vendor finance or to start building.

How units and shared land are valued

If you own land with other people, QRO counts only your share and adds it to the rest of your land. Units work the same way: you own a share of the land the building sits on. In a block with 12 equal units on land valued at $4,200,000, each owner’s share is $350,000. An individual investor whose only other land is their home pays $0 on that unit, because the share is under the $600,000 threshold; the same unit held in a company or trust costs $1,450 a year.

Values come from the annual land valuations issued by the Valuer-General. QRO cannot consider an objection on the ground that a statutory land value is too high; that has to be taken up with the Valuer-General.

Land tax calculator QLD: 2026–27 examples

The table compares the three main owner types on the same total taxable value. The absentee column includes the 3% surcharge on value above $350,000, which is often larger than the land tax itself.

Home exemption: the rules QRO applies

Your home is exempt, but QRO says exemptions are generally not automatic: you apply online (Form LT12 for individuals, LT13 for trustees), and each joint owner applies separately. To qualify, you must be an individual not holding the land as trustee, have occupied the home on or before 30 June, have only one principal place of residence anywhere, and the land must be a single parcel with a fixed building designed for one family. Absentees cannot claim the home exemption, and there is no separate exemption for seniors or pensioners.

Renting out a room or granny flat does not automatically cost you the exemption. Under QRO’s “allowable letting” test, the rented area must be no more than 50% of the total residential floor area, used by the tenant as their home, and let at no more than market rent.

If more than half of the land you live on is used for primary production, QRO suggests applying for the primary production exemption instead of the home exemption.

Moving house across 30 June: the transitional home exemption

Owning two homes on 30 June can create a large one-off bill. Take someone who has bought a new home valued at $1,400,000 and moved in a week before 30 June, but whose old home (valued at $900,000) does not settle until July. Without relief, their total taxable value is $2,300,000 and the land tax would be $25,950. With a home exemption on the new home and a transitional home exemption (Form LT21) on the old one, it is nil.

The transitional exemption needs all of the following: you lived in the old home on the previous 30 June, bought the new home in the 12 months before this 30 June, were living in one of them on 30 June, earned no rent from the old home after leaving or from the new home before moving in, no longer own the old home by the following 30 June, and are living in the new home by the following 30 June. A new home still under construction on 30 June does not qualify. You lodge Form LT21 for the old home and a home exemption application for the new one, and each owner completes a separate form.

Subdividers, assessments and paying

Developers holding newly subdivided, undeveloped lots for sale can get a 40% discount on each lot’s value, provided they hold at least 6 qualifying lots in Queensland at 30 June and the lots are being actively marketed.

Annual assessment notices start going out in August and continue for several months. QRO asks you to tell it within 30 days about any error, such as land you sold before 30 June. You can pay in full by the due date, or apply within 35 days of the issue date for the extended payment option (EPO), which spreads the bill over 3 instalments. Interest starts accruing the day after the due date. From 1 October 2026, QRO no longer charges a surcharge on card payments.

Objections must be lodged within 60 days of the notice, although QRO can accept a later one in some cases. If the objection fails, you can appeal to the Supreme Court or, in certain cases, apply to QCAT for review, again within 60 days of the decision.