Property investing
Vacant land tax and short-stay levies
Victoria's vacant residential land tax and short stay levy, and the ACT's short-term rental levy — what leaving a property vacant or short-letting it actually costs.
- Victoria's Vacant Residential Land Tax now applies statewide (since 2025), escalating from 1% to 3% of capital improved value the longer a property stays vacant.
- A property counts as vacant if unoccupied for 6+ months of the previous year — listing it for rent or sale doesn't count as occupying it.
- Victoria's short stay levy is 7.5% of every short-stay booking fee; the ACT charges 5%, rising to 7.5% from 1 July 2027.
- VRLT stacks on top of ordinary land tax and the absentee owner surcharge — all can apply to the same property at once.
- NSW, Queensland and WA regulate short-term rentals but don't currently charge an equivalent statewide levy.
- The Northern Territory has no land tax at all, so it can't have a vacant-land-tax variant either — a structural outlier, not just another state with no levy.
A different decision from ordinary land tax
Whether to leave a property vacant, rent it long-term, or short-let it (Airbnb-style) is a genuinely separate cost question from the land tax comparison on the previous page — these charges exist specifically to discourage leaving housing empty or off the long-term rental market, and currently apply in Victoria and the ACT.
Victoria's Vacant Residential Land Tax
Victoria's Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT) applies statewide since 2025 — before that it only applied to 15 inner-Melbourne council areas. (State Revenue Office Victoria, verified 11 Aug 2026) The rate escalates the longer a property stays vacant: 1% of the property's capital improved value in the first liable year, 2% in the second, and 3% in the third year and every year after that. A property with an existing home is "vacant" if it wasn't lived in — by the owner, a permitted occupant, or a genuine tenant — for 6 months or more of the previous calendar year; those 6 months don't need to be continuous, but simply listing the property for rent or sale doesn't count as occupying it. VRLT also applies to a home under construction or renovation, or genuinely uninhabitable, for 2 years or more, and — from 1 January 2026 — to metro Melbourne residential land left undeveloped for 5 years or more. It's charged separately from, and on top of, ordinary land tax, the absentee owner surcharge and the federal foreign-owner vacancy fee — an investor could genuinely owe all four on the same property.
Victoria's short stay levy
If you're considering short-letting a Victorian property rather than leaving it vacant or renting it long-term, factor in the short stay levy: 7.5% of the total booking fee — nightly rate, cleaning fee, GST and any late checkout fee — for any stay under 28 consecutive days, effective from 1 January 2025. (State Revenue Office Victoria, verified 11 Aug 2026) It's collected by the booking platform if you use one (Airbnb, Stayz and similar), or by you directly if you take bookings without a platform. It doesn't apply to a stay in your own principal place of residence, or to a room that can't be occupied separately from the rest of the home (for example, sharing a bathroom or kitchen).
The ACT's short-term rental levy
The ACT runs an equivalent levy on short-term rental accommodation: 5% of the total booking amount for stays of 28 days or less, for bookings made from 1 July 2025 — rising to 7.5% from 1 July 2027, the same rate Victoria already charges. (ACT Revenue Office, verified 11 Aug 2026) It's paid by the booking service provider facilitating the booking; a direct booking made straight with the owner or occupier, without going through a platform, isn't subject to it in the same way. Unlike Victoria, the ACT doesn't currently run an equivalent to VRLT for property left genuinely vacant.
Tasmania: a levy is coming, but isn't law yet
Tasmania could become a third jurisdiction with a short-stay levy. The Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 proposes a 5% levy on bookings made through a platform provider (direct bookings would be exempt), excludes a homeowner renting out a spare room in their own home, and would fund first-home-buyer programs (Premier of Tasmania (media release), verified 12 Aug 2026). As of Parliament of Tasmania's own bill tracker, the Bill has passed the House of Assembly but had not yet received Royal Assent in the Legislative Council — it is not yet law, and the Government has said it would start no earlier than 1 January 2027. Don't factor this into a Tasmanian short-letting decision as a certainty until it actually passes — confirm its status directly before relying on it.
Other states, checked and confirmed different
NSW, Queensland and WA all regulate short-term rentals — registration requirements, and in some areas annual night caps — but none currently charge an equivalent state-level tax or levy on short-stay bookings the way Victoria and the ACT do, and South Australia's general land tax framework shows no equivalent vacant-land or short-stay surcharge either. The Northern Territory is a structural outlier rather than just another "no" — the NT Government's own site states plainly there is no land tax in the NT at all, unlike every other state and territory, so a vacant-land tax (a variant of ordinary land tax) simply has no framework to attach to there (Northern Territory Government, verified 12 Aug 2026). No NT-specific short-stay levy was found in this pass either, though that absence rests on search results rather than an explicit primary denial the way the land-tax position does — confirm directly with the Territory Revenue Office before relying on it. If you're comparing a short-letting strategy across states, the regulatory requirements differ by state and sometimes by council, but this specific cost — a percentage of every booking — is currently a Victoria-and-ACT line item (with Tasmania potentially joining), not yet a national one.
Practical checklist
Before deciding whether to let a property sit vacant or short-let it
- If considering leaving a Victorian property vacant, check whether it would trigger VRLT and at what rate given how long it's already been vacant
- If short-letting in Victoria or the ACT, factor the 7.5% (or 5%) levy into your actual net booking revenue, not just the headline nightly rate
- Check your council's own short-term rental registration and any night-cap rules, separately from the state-level tax question
- Confirm current rates directly with the relevant state revenue office before relying on the figures here
Questions for a professional
- Would my property be liable for VRLT given how it's actually been used over the past year?
- How does the short stay levy affect my actual net return compared to a long-term lease?
- Do I have other vacancy or short-stay obligations from my council, separate from state taxes?
Official resources
- State Revenue Office Victoria: Vacant residential land tax
- State Revenue Office Victoria: Short stay levy
- ACT Revenue Office: Short-term rental accommodation levy
- Parliament of Tasmania: Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 status
- Northern Territory Government: Property taxes
Sources and methodology
- Understanding vacant residential land tax | State Revenue Office Victoria — State Revenue Office Victoria (retrieved 11 Aug 2026)
- Vacant residential land tax (current rates) | State Revenue Office Victoria — State Revenue Office Victoria (retrieved 11 Aug 2026)
- Understanding the short stay levy | State Revenue Office Victoria — State Revenue Office Victoria (retrieved 11 Aug 2026)
- Short-term rental accommodation levy | ACT Revenue Office — ACT Revenue Office (retrieved 11 Aug 2026)
- Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 tabled in Parliament — Premier of Tasmania (media release) (retrieved 12 Aug 2026)
- Short Stay Levy Bill 2026 (13 of 2026) — bill status tracker — Parliament of Tasmania (retrieved 12 Aug 2026)
- Property taxes — Northern Territory Government (retrieved 12 Aug 2026)
Figures on this page are drawn from Delora's local knowledge graph, refreshed from these primary sources and checked for changes on a regular schedule. If a figure here looks out of date, the official source above is always the authority — please let us know.