The 2025-26 Queensland Budget was delivered by the Queensland Treasurer, the Hon David Janetzki MP on Tuesday, 24 June. The Budget Papers have also been released, and are available at https://budget.qld.gov.au/.
The 2025-26 Queensland Budget has delivered a few surprises in the way of State Taxes reform. The measures introduced under the budget include:
- the previously announced exemption from transfer duty for first home buyers acquiring new dwellings and vacant land to build on;
- the previously announced exemption from payroll tax for GPs; and
- an extension of the 50% payroll tax rebate for wages paid to apprentices and trainees to 30 June 2026.
Though not a reform per se, the Treasurer has also flagged a ‘streamlining’ of the processes for applying for ex gratia relief from additional foreign acquirer duty, and the land tax foreign surcharge.
At present, applying for ex gratia relief from surcharges can be a stressful and arduous process, on the basis that:
- though the Queensland Commissioner of State Revenue provides guidance on the factors they will take into consideration when determining an ex gratia relief application, there is no certainty as to the outcome, and the Commissioner is not always consistent in their application of these factors;
- processing times for ex gratia relief applications can be very long, generally between one and two years; and
- due to the ex gratia nature of the relief sought, the Commissioner’s decision on applications is final, with no avenues to challenge a determination or request reconsideration of a taxpayer’s position.
The Treasurer has indicated that he is intending to deal with the first two of these concerns, providing taxpayers with greater certainty and timely consideration. Time will tell as to how effective these changes will be, and how they will impact processing times.
Notably, the proposed reforms do not include codifying the current ex gratia relief into a statutory exemption, as is provided in Victoria. This would address the third concern listed above, in that it would provide taxpayers with the option to object to the Commissioner’s decision to disallow a surcharge exemption, and to pursue a tribunal review of and court appeal against the determination of such an objection.
Overall, the proposed measures as they relate to the additional foreign acquirer duty and the land tax foreign surcharge fall well short of what many were hoping for. These taxes and associated uncertain exemption processes remain a disincentive to foreign investment into Queensland.
