Land tax
Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (09:53): I have had many in my community reach out to me because they have started receiving their new land tax bills for the first time. I am talking about people who are running small businesses and side hustles from their own homes – people the government is now charging land tax simply for backing themselves and trying to earn an income under their own roof. People running businesses from home are receiving new land tax bills of thousands of dollars. Under Labor’s changes, if home-based businesses earn over $30,000 a year, the owner can be slugged with land tax, hitting startups, side hustles, freelancers and more. If the government is already coming after those who want to make money from their own homes, my question is: is it the government’s plan to legislate working from home in order to be able to tax everyday Victorians? In the Liberal Party we back working from home. We back flexibility, productivity and personal choice. However, this government’s land tax on home businesses already shows they will punish ambition and enterprise. We know the government is addicted to taxes. We know that there have been 63 new or increased taxes since Labor came to office 10 years ago, and we know that we simply cannot trust them. I ask again: is it the government’s plan to legislate working from home just so they can sting Victorians with yet another tax?