NSW State Budget 2023/24

Tax Reform

• Stamp duty exemption for Electric Vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will cease from 1 January 2024
• From 1 July 2023, first home buyers will be eligible for a stamp duty exemption for purchases up to $800,000 and a stamp duty concession will be applied for purchases between $800,000 and $1 million.
• Individuals who use and occupy land as a principal place of residence will need to have a minimum 25% stake in the property together to claim the principal place of residence exemption.
• The landholder duty threshold for the acquisition of a “significant interest” in a private unit trust will be reduced from 50% to 20%.
• The government will increase the coal royalty rate by 2.6% from 1 July 2024.
• The transfer duty concessions of assets transferred between members of a single corporate group for the purposes of a corporate restructure will be reduced to paying 90% of the duty otherwise payable as opposed to 100% from 1 February 2024
• The government will make corrections to the operation of the land tax system from the 2024 financial year, by revising the indexation formula used by the valuer general to value land.
• The government is making additional investments in the compliance system of Revenue NSW including payroll tax, land tax and transfer duty.

Cost of Living Support

Housing affordability and availability is the biggest pressure facing household budgets with mortgage repayments or rent being the largest expense for most households. The budget delivers cost of living support to the people of NSW to ensure everyone can access essential services.

Housing Crisis

• Homes NSW will be established to deliver better outcomes for public and social housing tenants as well as delivering more affordable and social housing to reduce the number of homeless people in NSW.
• NSW Rental Commissioner will work with the government to design and implement changes to make renting in NSW fairer, more affordable, and more secure by implementing a Rental Bonds Scheme, protecting renters from unfair evictions and making it easier for renters to have pets in home.

Energy

• NSW Government is ensuring a secure supply of clean and affordable electricity for NSW with a long-term energy investment plan and immediate energy bill relief for families. The long-term investment in renewable energy will improve affordability and reliability.

Toll Relief

• The government will be providing a $60 weekly toll cap for private motorists from 1 January 2024 which will assist more than 700,000 commuters. Additionally, a 33% reduction will be applied to the truck toll multiplier on the M5 East and M8.

Caring for Children

• $5 billion investment over 10 years in the Childcare and Economic Opportunity fund to ensure families can benefit from early childhood education services.

Rebuilding Essential Services

The budget addresses critical staff vacancies with the health, education, and transport sectors by establishing a new $3.6 billion Essential Services Fund to enable the government to improve services by negotiating workplace changes. Particularly:

Health

• The government will be investing more than $2.5 billion to recruit and retain healthcare workers including:
  - Approximately 1,200 nurses over three years
  - 500 new rural and regional paramedics
  - Subsidies for 12,000 health care students over a five-year period
  - Delivering the largest wage increase for healthcare workers in more than a decade

• $13.8 billion for the improvement in health facilities across the Western Sydney area and $3.8 billion to support new and upgrade health facilities in regional communities such as Milton, Bathurst, Mildura, and Albury.
• $100 million investment to increase women’s access to healthcare including the expansion of breast cancer nurses, health and mental health services for women and additional nurses and examiners to fill the critical gaps in health care services for victims of sexual assault.

Education

• $9.8 billion to be invested over the next four years to provide the public education system that is required for our growing community including upgrades to our primary and high schools, TAFE’s and public preschools.
• The beginning of the long-term rebuilding of our education system to ensure children have the skills to equip them for the workforce.
• Recruitment and retention of high-quality teachers through a historic pay rise and moving executives back into the classroom.

Transport & Roads

• Rebuilding NSW’s transport and infrastructure by delivering high quality transport and commencing roads infrastructure projects across the state that help improve connecting our communities and reducing the amount of time spent in traffic and commuting.

Rebuilding & Protecting Communities.

• NSW government will be investing $4 billion in natural disaster support and response programs, with the NSW Reconstruction Authority receiving $121 million to ensure communities are better equipped for natural disasters and recover faster.

An overview of what other areas the budget is investing in can be found here. For guidance on making sure you maximise the opportunities in the NSW budget, our team at BLG Business Advisers are here to help so please talk with us today.

*This information is correct at the time of publishing and is subject to change.*