"You've got mail"

Stavro Sofios, Political Reporter, NSW Daily Telegraph, 16 February 2005

FEDERAL treasurer Andrew Refshauge yesterday asked NSW taxpayers to help reform the state's controversial land tax and stamp duty charges.

And dozens of families hit hardest by the tax reforms have contacted The Daily Telegraph with one simple solution -- get rid of them.

In an admission that the taxes were damaging the State Government, Mr Refshauge and Premier Bob Carr yesterday admitted the taxes were up for review.

"I am happy to listen to anybody who's got better ideas to do it, listen to their concerns to see if I can find better ways myself," Mr Refshauge said.

"But the reality is we need to fund the services like hospitals and schools and police.

"I am happy to find better ways of doing it. But if people just say remove an income stream ... then they're missing the point."

Mr Refshauge defended land tax and the new vendor tax, which has only raised $190 million in six months -- far below the annual $640 million it was originally budgeted to reap.

The 2.25 per cent tax, which hits people selling investment properties, was introduced to allow first home buyers to avoid paying stamp duty.

Figures released yesterday showed 32,000 families saved an average $10,000 each on stamp duty, with the Government handing out $313 million in just seven months.

Liverpool was the top suburb for stamp duty concessions, with 601 families saving a total of $6.5 million in taxes.

Suburbs in Labor's traditional western Sydney heartland, including Blacktown and Bankstown, make up 17 of the top 20 suburbs for stamp duty relief.

But at the same time, Bankstown and Blacktown have been hit hard by the vendor tax on investment properties, with more than 700 families in the suburbs slugged more than $11 million.

Mr Refshauge denied the taxes were a political mistake, but for the third time in three days Mr Carr signalled reforms could be on the way by the June state Budget.

Mr Refshauge said the Government still expected to earn $3.1 billion in stamp duty this financial year, despite fears the Sydney real estate market had burst and two interest rate rises were on the horizon.

But he admitted there were few concrete figures to substantiate his claim that the Sydney market "seems" to be buoyant.

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