The Housing Industry Association is pushing for policy reform when it comes to “onerous” stamp duties.
The association has released its first edition of ‘Stamp Duty Watch’ which has highlighted the financial burden that stamp duty has on home buyers, said HIA senior economist Shane Garrett.
“This form of taxation makes household indebtedness worse by increasing required borrowings,” Garrett said.
“Stamp duty results in total mortgage repayments increasing by $46,400 in Victoria and by $37,100 in NSW. In WA, additional mortgage repayments will total $33,800.”
Stamp duty is ready for policy reform, according to Garret. He argued a better alternative would be to have it placed in buyers’ superannuation funds.
“Investing the stamp duty bill in superannuation at the outset would transform the financial well-being of today’s homebuyers on retirement. Use of funds in this way would have the added advantage of taking much of the retirement burden off the public purse over the longer term,” Garret said.
“For example, WA retirees would be better off to the tune of $234,000 and the typical NSW pension fund would be effectively boosted by $256,600. In Victoria, stamp duty has the effect of plundering up to $320,000 from the ordinary buyer’s retirement pot.”
