Question On Notice No. 2961 asked in the Legislative Council on 19 May 2020 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Question Directed to the: Minister for Environment representing the Treasurer
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
Question
I refer to an article in The West Australian on 16 May
“Relief shreds rent” and the Government’s commitment to a $100 million land tax
relief to Western Australian landlords suffering financial difficulty, and I ask:
(a) from
1 May 2020 how many applications have been made;
(b) how
many applications have been approved and declined;
(c) how
much land tax relief has been applied for to date;
(d) how
much land tax relief has been granted;
(e) how
much land tax relief has been approved outside of the Perth and Peel regions;
(f) how
many applicants outside of Perth and Peel regions have been approved and
declined;
(g) does
the Government expect to exhaust its full $100 million allocation; and
(h) if
no to (g), will the Government reconsider the criteria for land tax concession
eligibility to ensure the $100 million in promised land tax relief is delivered
as quickly as possible?
Answered on 23 June 2020
(a) The land tax grants are administered through the Small Business Development Corporation. It has advised that 381 applications have been submitted as at 19 June 2020.
(b) 46 applications have been approved and zero applications have been declined (not approved) as at 19 June 2020.
(c) We are unable to provide an accurate value until the applications are validated and finalised.
(d) Payments are being batched and the first tranche of payments was processed by the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries on 17 June 2020 to the value of $271,809.45.
(e) $6040.40 in grants have been approved for applicants located outside of the Perth and Peel regions as at 19 June 2020.
(f) Five applications have been approved and zero have been declined for applicants outside of the Perth and Peel regions as at 19 June 2020.
(g) The State Government has announced that this is a $100 million capped program.
(h) Not applicable.