BIG businesses, holiday-home owners and landlords will be asked to foot the bill for the Victorian Government’s COVID-19 debt, as part of a 10-year fiscal repair plan unveiled in the State Budget.
Some jobs in the public service will also be slashed, with between 3000 and 4000 corporate and office staff set to go as part of a four-year, $2.1 billion efficiency drive.
But jobs in other parts of the public sector, including frontline health worker roles, are expected to grow.
The government had warned the budget would involve “challenging” decisions as it aimed to pull back debt amid rapidly rising interest rates.
Businesses with a national payroll of more than $10 million will pay additional payroll tax of 0.5 per cent, or 1 per cent if their national payroll exceeds $100 million.
The threshold for Victoria’s land tax – which does not apply to the family home – will be lowered from $300,000 to $50,000.
An annual charge of $500 will apply to affected properties between $50,000 and $100,000 as part of the 10-year levy.
A charge of $975 will apply for property landholdings worth between $100,000 and $300,000, while land tax rates for properties above $300,000 will rise by $975 plus 0.1 per cent of the land’s value.
Mr Pallas, who estimated about 860,000 landowners would be affected, said the COVID levy targeted businesses and property owners who had seen healthy recent profits.
“We think big business has the capacity to make a modest additional contribution over the next 10 years to assist in repaying the COVID debt,” Mr Pallas said.
But the Opposition accused the government of delivering a painful budget that asked Victorians to pay for the government’s financial mismanagement.
Net debt was still forecast to grow to $171.4 billion in four years’ time, partly because the budget provided billions of dollars in funding for major election commitments made by the government, including significant health commitments.
Budget papers estimated Victoria’s net debt would rise from $116.7 billion this year to $162.2 billion by 2025-26, a modest reduction on the pre-election budget update of $165.9 billion for that year.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto slammed the government for raising taxes, saying Victorians were paying the price for Labor’s “incompetence”.
“This is a budget that is mean. It is nasty,” Mr Pesutto said.
“It visits pain on every Victorian.”
