Australian State and Territory Budgets 2025-26 – Victoria and Northern Territory

At a glance

• Victoria and the Northern Territory handed down their FY 25/26 budgets on 13 and 20 May, respectively.
• Victoria has extended its temporary stamp duty concession for off the plan apartments.
• Prior to the Budget, the Victorian Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund levy passed both houses of Parliament, replacing the Fire Services Property Levy.
• The Northern Territory broadened its stamp duty concessions available to charities and other not-for-profits.
  

Victoria

The Victorian Government delivered its Budget on 20 May 2025. As a result of Budget announcements and recent legislative changes, Victoria’s State taxation regime has had minor changes, including:

1. Budget measure: extension of the stamp duty concession for off the plan apartments, units and townhouses.
2. Budget announcement: updates on the implementation of the Commercial and Industrial Property Tax (CIPT).
3. Pre-budget measure: the introduction of the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund (ESVF) through the passing of the Fire Services Property Amendment (Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund) Bill 2025 (Vic).

Northern Territory

The Northern Territory Government delivered its budget on 13 May 2025. The Budget includes initiatives relating to payroll tax and stamp duty exemptions regarding charities and not-for-profit entities.

Key Changes

Stamp duty revenue for 2024–25 is projected to be $54 million higher than forecasted in the 2024 PEFO, driven by a number of large commercial property transactions and increased residential sales volumes. Against this backdrop, the 2025–26 Northern Territory Budget introduced reforms to simplify and broaden stamp duty exemptions for charities and not-for-profit entities by removing the existing ‘commercial and competitive’ use requirement.

These changes align with payroll tax amendments and mean that eligible entities will no longer need to demonstrate that acquired property is used solely in the manner that is not ‘commercial or competitive’ to access the stamp duty exemptions.

This will be achieved by removing the condition that the property must be used for an ‘exempt use’. This will be applicable to service providers that support aged care, child care and disability/affordable housing.

The proposed reforms will be introduced by the Revenue Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 (NT) and if passed, the changes will take effect from 1 July 2025.