How restructuring a discretionary trust's property holdings can affect its land tax treatment — a State-level cost that sits alongside, and separate from, transfer duty.
Land tax is a State and Territory tax, assessed annually on the value of land held above a threshold. It's calculated and administered separately from stamp duty, and trust-held land is often treated differently to individually-held land — commonly attracting different thresholds, surcharges, or trust-specific rules depending on the jurisdiction.
Any restructuring undertaken in response to Federal reform — moving property out of a discretionary trust and into a company or fixed trust — can change how that property is assessed for land tax going forward, independently of any stamp duty triggered by the same transfer.