Fed: ACT announces $10.5 million help for first home buyers

AAP General News (Australia)
04-29-2004
Fed: ACT announces $10.5 million help for first home buyers

CANBERRA, April 29 AAP - First home buyers and families in the ACT will benefit from
$10.5 million worth of cuts to stamp duty and land taxes.

ACT Treasurer Ted Quinlan said the cuts, to apply from July 1 this year, would help
thousands of Canberrans to realise the great Australian dream of home ownership.

Under the package, first home buyers buying homes worth up to $273,000 - accounting
for about a quarter of all ACT property sales - will be exempt from stamp duty, saving
nearly $8,400.

First home buyers with a joint household income of less than $100,000 will get a stamp
duty discount on properties worth up to $375,000, potentially helping 8,590 families.

Land tax will be cut to 0.65 per cent, from one per cent, for the first $50,000, effectively
cutting land tax for the cheapest 20 per cent of properties by 35 per cent, Mr Quinlan
said.

"We all recognise the recent surge in Canberra's property prices has made it more difficult
for people to afford to buy their first home," he said.

"Our housing package, unlike that announced in the recent NSW mini-budget, will provide
most help for battlers. It is a progressive, socially responsible tax package."

Mr Quinlan said property value thresholds would be permanently linked to market activity
and prices and would be adjusted every six months.

AAP kmh/apm

KEYWORD: BUDGET ACT

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