Complaint submitted to the Anti Discrimination Commission Queensland

8 January 2019 I  lodged a complaint to the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland. The discrimination complaint I submitted included the argument that Queensland Property owners labelled as 'Absentees' are being discriminated because we are subjected to the Absentee Surcharge and a/higher Land Tax compared to people not regarded as 'Absentees'.

The fact that Australians had already committed to being overseas prior to the legislation changes means that it unfairly treats those of us subjected to the taxes. Many absentees had already made arrangements to move overseas as well at great cost and no warning was given about the upcoming changes - in fact we were all hit retrospectively.

Queensland property owners considered absentees are also discriminated because people owning property in other states are not subjected to the same punitive restrictions and penalties - meaning that they are free to take up opportunities that Queensland absentees cannot. This is a severe disadvantage.

Unfortunately though, the QLD Human Rights Bill has not yet been passed. If the Bill becomes an Act - according to their website:

"The Human Rights Act will start in two stages. The first stage in mid-2019 will start the functions of the Commission to provide information about human rights. The second stage will start the rest of the Act, including the complaint process, on 1 January 2020."

NOTE:  I inadvertently submitted a complaint to the QLD Anti-Discrimination Commission twice (8 Jan 2019 and 12 Jan 2019)  - as I have been submitting to Federal bodies as well (in this case - the Human Rights Commission - complaint rejected as not in their jurisdiction to investigate complaints against State bodies) and forgot I had already made a submission.

15 Feb 2019 Update: 

I just received a response from the Anti Discrimination Commission Queensland.

Unfortunately another brick wall. Here is a copy of the response:

Thank you for sending us your complaint.

Under section 136 of the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (the Act), a complaint must set out reasonably sufficient details to indicate an alleged breach of the Act.

Your complaint does not appear to come under the Act because the worse treatment does not appear to have happened in an area covered by the Act. The Act does not cover the government of the day’s enactment of legislation it sees fit to pass. The Anti-Discrimination Act covers the administration of those laws as described in section 101 of the Act, but not the right of the government to introduce taxes and enact legislation.

Your complaint seems to be one that may be best handled by approaching your local state member of parliament to describe the impact of the legislation on you and your specific circumstances.
I hope this information is helpful to you.

Example of how a family in Victoria can take a long travel adventure overseas but Queensland property owners cannot without punishing taxes.

EXAMPLE OF HOW QUEENSLAND PROPERTY OWNERS ARE DISADVANTAGED FROM OTHER STATES WHERE AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY OWNERS CAN TRAVEL WITH IMPUNITY

Please read and then watch the video below:

I just watched this story televised on Channel 10's The Project about an AirBnB disaster story. Terrible what happened. Over $20,000 in damage. But at least this family who leased out their property are from Victoria. They took off on a 10 month overseas adventure for them and the kids.

You see, that's something Queensland property owners CANNOT do. You need to reduce that to under 6 months. And hope and pray nobody gets sick or injured that prevents you getting back before the 6 month clock alarm rings.

Otherwise, you are going to pay dearly with the MASSIVE special rate Land Tax and Absentee Surcharge.  And that is something most Australian owners of property in Queensland cannot afford.

A $20,000 tax bill is worse.  Why?  Because unlike a damage bill, this terrible experience with dodgy tenants won't likely be repeated. That means they and others owning outside QLD can rent their homes out and take that travel adventure overseas - enriching the experience and minds of their children.

But the QLD taxes stay around your neck forever charging you EVERY TIME you exceed 6 months.
Queensland property owners are being treated like children who need to be home in time by their Labor 'parents' or be punished.

Be warned - Queensland government monitor your immigration movements and tally up the absent periods.  So don't think you could get away with it.  Plus, not notifying the Office of State Treasury of your extended absence could attract further fines and interest charged too.

Thanks Dictator Palaszczuk and Curtis Pitt and the rest of QLD Labor cronies for ruining and restricting our freedoms and lives.

I need to say I envy people like this who have freedom of movement and impunity. Unlike us.

Troublesome tenants story - The Project

YouTube Channel created - Land Tax & Absentee Surcharge

I have created a new YouTube channel today titled 'Queensland Land Tax & Absentee Surcharge'

I have uploaded a video that appears on another channel (Property Club channel), but this channel will be dedicated solely the Queensland Absentee Surcharge and accompanying Absentee rate Land Tax - as it affects Australian citizens. 

Here is the link to the YouTube channel where you can select videos from:

Land Tax & Absentee Surcharge YouTube Channel

Would you have bought a Queensland property if you knew you had a six month travel restriction linked to your property being taxed?

You know my answer. I am 99.99% sure I know the rest of your answers. Problem is they never gave us the choice. Sprung upon us without warning.
And for those who may have bought after the changes, it was not well documented and in fact many people still do not know about it.

Premier Palaszczuk went to London for University Scholarship - what if she had been an Absentee back then?

Imagine, you are awarded a scholarship to study abroad in a university to enhance your career prospects. An opportunity like this was given to Premier Palaszczuk at the University of London. She took up the offer.

This was before she came into power. But I wonder - did she own a property then in Queensland? If so she would be an 'Absentee' by today's standards.

But of course there was no Absentee Surcharge and accompanying hiked Land Tax to hinder her decision. Most likely if she owned a property that fell within the absentee category then she would have foregone the offer due to massive costs and she could quite possibly not ended up as a Premier. But opportunities like that were afforded to all Queenslanders and QLD property owners back then. There was no disadvantage. She, like other non-Queensland property owners today could and can take up those sort of life changing offers.

Queensland property owners subject to the absentee rules cannot.

Palaszczuk, I wonder? Have you forgotten your past and how that scholarship helped you to get to where you are now? Do you want your Queensland voters to not have the same opportunities made available without punitive taxes to prevent them leaving the country?

I am also including not just scholarships but many other reasons why Queenslanders and Australians go abroad for parts of their lives. If it was okay for you then why not for us Palaszczuk? Do we not count as anything at all? Are we just your property to control like a dictator? Because that is what it feels like.

DOUBLE STANDARDS.

(UPDATED 21 MARCH 2019 - story submitted on Medium website.  Link below)

Queensland Premier Palaszczuk was an absentee before legislation changed

Queensland's property tax hit means some investors might have to sell

Another article discovered from last year and posted here for information purposes. This was published in the Australian Financial Review 24 Nov 2017 by reporter Matthew Cranston. Titled 'Queensland's property tax hit means some investors might have to sell'.

It outlines the impact on an investor caused as a result of the Land Tax & Absentee Surcharges that were introduced in May 2017 as well as the additional tax hikes for higher end properties that were implemented at the end of 2017.

Investor and Australian expat living and working in Singapore - Rembert Meyer-Rochow at the time of the article, stated he was thinking of selling his Gold Coast property due to his Land Tax bills being pushed to over $100,000!

The article also mentions, Queensland developer 'Consolidated Properties', property firm JLL and the Australian Property Council, who are all firmly against the Labor government's new property tax laws.

Steve Douglas, a fellow of the Taxation Institute of Australia and co-founder and managing director of Australasian Taxation Service also points out the need as well for foreign investment to maintain a balanced supply in the market.

Real-estate/Queenslands-property-tax-hit-means-some-investors-might-have-to-sell

YouTube Videos discussing Queensland Land Tax & Absentee Surcharge + Capital Gains Tax on non-resident Australian citizens

A YouTube video was created and submitted by a group member (and also Absentee tax victim) Peter James who also runs Facebook Group and YouTube channel 'Property Club'. I also contributed to this video to briefly discuss the impacts of the Land Tax & Absentee Surcharge as well as the capital gains tax on non-residents with removal of the Primary Residence (Principal Place of Residence PPR) CGT exemption when becoming a non-resident.

Media via YouTube is a great way to spread the word to the general public. We need all Queenslanders to become well aware of what's going on. We need the rest of Australia to also see what is going on.

Queensland Land Tax & Absentee Surcharge Victims' Support Group - Facebook page link

Other videos created and submitted by Peter relating to Queensland and property tax:  

I was interviewed by Peter over the phone in this video we we discuss the QLD Land Tax & Absentee Surcharge.  

Expat Property owners in Australia left in limbo over proposed changes to Capital Gains Tax exemption bill - Queensland face additional challenges

NO NEWS YET ON BILL REGARDING SCRAPPING OF CGT TAX EXEMPTION FOR NON-RESIDENT OWNING A PRIMARY RESIDENCE

No news it seems yet on the Morrison government's implementation of legislation regarding the CGT exemption removal for Primary Residence holders who become non-residents. All set to go by end of June 2019. I for one have sold off a property in anticipation of the bill being passed so as to avoid a future 'non-resident' Capital Gains tax at the Foreign Resident Rate (nil CGT discount allowed). They only grandfathered this until next year but many expats are still in extreme anxiety and uncertainty as to what to do - they cannot sell their properties because of the severe market downturn, but do not want to have to sell their properties when deemed non-residents either. But because of the market downturn expats are being forced to sell their properties at a huge loss, instead of holding. The ATO website still outlines the new laws but states:

"In the 2017-18 Budget, the government announced that foreign residents will no longer be entitled to claim the main residence exemption when they sell property in Australia. This change is not yet law and is subject to parliamentary process.

If the law is passed and you are a foreign resident when a CGT event happens to your residential property in Australia, you may no longer be entitled to claim the main residence exemption. This will apply to you:"

Capital-gains-tax International-issues - Foreign-residents-and-main-residence-exemption

Great that they can just keep everyone in a perpetual limbo. It may be the case the bill is never passed through the senate and I and several others have sold their properties for nothing and at a considerable loss of capital/loss. Extremely unfair. Was only implemented as part of Morrison (Treasurer at the time) and Turnbull's strategy to take the heat off the housing market - yet again Australian citizens are caught up in the net. Well. we all know how that's panned out with a massive housing crash enveloping Australia. There was no need and there is no need for this CGT exemption removal to continue. Forcing expats to ditch Australia and move cash into riskier assets classes to draw income streams.

As I have outlined before - owning a property in Queensland and being an Absentee under QLD Law, being a Non-Resident under Federal Law and owning a Primary Residence - you are set to the be worst off property owners in all of Australia. Triple taxes stacked against each and every one of us wishing to stay overseas with a damned 6 month travel limit.

Not to mention Foreign Resident income tax with zero tax-free threshold. Then there are local taxes you pay in the countries you are staying in plus usual taxes and other holding costs of your property/ies in QLD.

2015 Palaszczuk boasts no Absentee Surcharge to lure foreign investors to Queensland - back-flips in 2017

How many Queensland Property owners here bought their properties after the Palaszczuk election win in 2015 and prior to the 2017 Budget?

I refer back to a post I submitted below dated 9 October 2018 where I discussed the Victorian 'Inquiry into the State Taxation Acts Amendment Bill 2015', that was released on June 2015 (report No 1, 58th Parliament). The report can be accessed from that post. It relates to examining the impact of the Absentee Surcharge and the reasoning behind it.

Evidence was provided by witness Craig Whatman that the newly elected QLD Premier Palaszczuk declared within a day of the Victorian government's announcement of their new Absentee taxes directed at Foreign Investors, words to the effect of
"Come to Queensland; we are not going to impose this tax" (see page 37 of report).

This comment made by Palaszczuk was directed towards Foreign Investors as an invitation to invest in QLD property, It was clear that she meant Queensland State government were not going to apply an Absentee Surcharge to investors.

I would like to see further evidence of Palaszczuk making this or similar comments, to corroborate witness Whatman's statement, because this is very damning against Palaszczuk.

As we know, in 2017 her Labor government back-flipped on that promise. It is undeniable that many foreign investors between Palaszczuk's 2015 announcement and before the 2017 Budget announcement, on Palaszczuk's word, would have invested into Queensland property instead of Victoria due to their Foreign Investor Absentee Surcharge.

I believe that those investors would have a valid legal case against the Palaszczuk government.

I believe that Australian citizens who bought into Queensland property as well after Palaszczuk's guarantee of "we are not going to impose this tax", would also have a case against the government.

Palaszczuk deceptively lured investors to buy into Queensland property, whilst all along there was a plan hatching to follow Victoria's lead in the 2017 Budget - but also add Australian Citizens to the Absentee Surcharge with the hiked Land Tax at the Absentee rate (reduced threshold).

Palaszczuk's alleged comment is effectively a guarantee of 'safe passage', an open invitation, an assurance of being able to invest into Queensland property without fear of financial loss, without fear of punitive taxes. It was a guarantee that there would be NO ABSENTEE SURCHARGE.

Anyone who bought on her words have been slapped in the face by this black widow and her webs of deceit and lies. She needs to be held to account. This particular piece of evidence needs to be reported.

UPDATED 21 MARCH 2019 - Link added below to article I published on Medium website:
2015-palaszczuk-boasts-no-absentee-surcharge-to-lure-investors-to-queensland-back-flips-in-2017

The 'Ordinarily Reside' test a risky bet to rely on for Absentee exemption

The 'ordinarily reside' test - do not rely on this as a way to seek an exemption from being an Absentee for more than 6 months.

I have been in 'discussions' with a few members on a Property Chat forum (not good for the blood pressure mind you!). One of the members appears to be a tax accountant states,

"Someone who can demonstrate being ordinarily resident in Australia is not subject to the absentee rules and the 6 month test isn't applicable ON APPLICATION - Form LT16. Merely being absent from Australia on a holiday is not a taxing concern even if its 6 or 7 months."
"All persons away 6mths + must apply and provide evidence for the Commissioner."

He has referred to the appropriate section of the QLD Land Tax Act which I am also familiar with - Section 31:

"If you have lived outside of Australia during the financial year, we will consider several factors to determine if you usually live in Australia, such as the reason for your absence and the time spent in and out of the country. If we are not satisfied that you mainly resided in Australia, you will be an absentee if you:
were away from Australia at 30 June or
have been away from Australia for more than 6 months in total during the financial year before 30 June.
31 Meaning of absentee
(1) An absentee is a person who does not ordinarily reside in Australia.
(2) An absentee includes a person who—
(a) can not satisfy the commissioner that he or she ordinarily resides in Australia; and
(b) when ownership of the person’s land is decided for this Act—
(i) is absent from Australia; or
(ii) has been absent from Australia for more than half of the 12 month period"

I have argued the problems experienced with trying to apply the 'ordinarily resides' argument to the LT16 and subsequent Objection lodged - both of which were rejected.
The OSR Commissioner is extremely strict in its application of this test and more likely than not the application will be rejected.

It would be at great peril to take a risk of hoping the OSR will agree to your 'ordinary residence' argument and waive your Absentee Surcharge & hiked Land tax. Not only that, you will need to report to the OSR upon your return and submit all documents to support your claim against the Absentee charges.

In my case my application was rejected - despite me arguing that Australia was my main residence. My downfall was that I spent my time in one country and had some mail redirected there for convenience. I was on a tourist visa - definitely not permanent and staying in temporary rented accommodation. The added complication of falling ill requiring hospital treatment and being certified as 'Not Fit to Fly' for 3 months was also a factor for me.
The non-resident test set by the Federal Government legislation is far more relaxed and caters for many different scenarios. I was not deemed a non-resident by the ATO but not for QLD.

So, yes there is a clause in the section to allow for people to be out of Australia longer than the 6 months, but the chances of being able to convince the OSR that you ordinarily reside in Australia is not guaranteed. And from current feedback it appears that rejections are the norm, not the exception.

Of course for those who are expats or workers residing overseas permanently then Absentee taxes apply anyway, even if you satisfy the resident test with the ATO.