An artist’s impression of Western Sydney Airport. A Liberal MP has criticised the government for not putting in place a windfall gains tax to capture increased values around major infrastructure projects.
Windfall gains are those which normally accrue to landowners who own undeveloped property that grows sharply in value because of rezoning or nearby new infrastructure such as light rail or a railway station.
In its state budget last week,the Victorian government revealed plans for a windfall gains tax of up to 50 per cent. It will apply to land that is rezoned.
Infrastructure Australia and several parliamentary inquiries,including those chaired by Mr Alexander,have backed forms of value capture or windfall gain taxes to help fund major infrastructure projects.
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He said theVictorian windfall tax was flawed because it was not directly linked to infrastructure,but it was caused by the federal government’s unwillingness to back proper reform to windfall gains.
“This inefficient Victorian tax is a direct and inevitable result of federal inaction,” he said.
“Taxes like Victoria’s are what you get when federal governments sit on their hands over this issue and refuse to consider a fairer federal version of it,one that can be applied broadly across Australia,and solely linked to infrastructure funding.”