Victorian election 2026 business tax: what Labor and the Coalition promise, and what to do before polling day

Victoria votes on Saturday 28 November 2026, and by now your inbox probably has a few “what the election means for business” headlines in it. Most of them skip the useful part: which promises are actually on the table, how big they are, and what they change for a business that pays wages, owns premises or is about to sign for either.

Here’s the neutral version, built from each party’s own announcements and the State Revenue Office (SRO). The sums are for a small-to-medium employer or property owner, because that’s who reads this site.

What do Labor and the Coalition promise on business tax?

Here’s the position as at 28 October 2026. Premier Ben Carroll leads Labor, having taken over from Jacinta Allan in July. Jess Wilson leads the Liberal-National Coalition.

Issue	Labor (Carroll government)	Liberal-National Coalition (Wilson)
Land tax threshold	Restore to $300,000 from today’s $50,000, in $25,000 annual steps from 2027/28, fully restored in 2033/34	Progressively lift to $300,000, which Ms Wilson’s May speech describes as $50,000 a year
Payroll tax threshold	No commitment found	$1m to $1.2m by 2028-29
Payroll tax rate	No commitment found	Metropolitan rate cut to 4.8% in 2030-31
Emergency services levy	Check Labor’s official site for its current position	Scrap it

Two caveats before anyone gets excited. First, none of this is law. A promise only changes your bill if the winning party passes legislation, and Labor’s release itself says its land tax relief would be backed by legislation in “the first budget next year”. Second, we’ve used the parties’ own releases for the commitments, so the wording is theirs, not ours. Links to each are at the bottom of the page.

Land tax: both sides want the $300,000 threshold back

In 2023 the land tax threshold fell from $300,000 to $50,000 of site value, and Labor’s own release says that pulled more than 250,000 people into the system. Now both major parties say they’d reverse it, and the only real difference is the timetable.

Labor says it would lift the threshold by $25,000 a year for 2027/28 through 2030/31 and keep going beyond the forward estimates, reaching $300,000 in 2033/34. It costs the plan out at $230 million over five years and says savings run up to $975 a year per taxpayer.

The Coalition’s plan is faster on its own description, since $50,000 a year gets to $300,000 in five years.

What that means for a business owner depends on what you own:

• A small holding (a single small lot, a car park, a granny-flat-sized site): you could drop out of land tax altogether as the threshold climbs.
• A typical workshop, shop or warehouse: site values often sit well above $300,000, so the threshold rise trims the bill rather than removing it. Labor’s “up to $975” is a ceiling on the saving, not an average.
• Premises held in a trust: Victoria runs a separate trust scale, so check your own assessment on the SRO land tax calculator rather than assuming the headline threshold applies to you.

The slower you expect the phase-in, the less weight it should carry in a purchase decision. Our guide to land tax on business property covers how it ranks against your lender’s security.

Payroll tax: one party has a number

The current Victorian payroll tax settings for 2026-27 are the $1m threshold and a standard rate of 4.85%, with a regional rate of 1.2125% for employers who pass the 85% test. They’re set out on the SRO’s rates page. The 2026-27 Budget left them alone.

The Coalition’s offer is a threshold of $1.2m by 2028-29, then a metropolitan rate of 4.8% in 2030-31. It says the threshold move would help about 23,000 businesses.

Illustrative example: A Geelong-based manufacturer pays $1.5m in Victorian wages, all to metropolitan-rate staff. Under today’s settings, tax is 4.85% of the $500,000 above the threshold, or $24,250. With a $1.2m threshold and the same rate, it’s 4.85% of $300,000, or $14,550. That’s a saving of $9,700 a year, and it wouldn’t arrive before 2028-29. The cut to 4.8% would trim a little more in 2030-31.

Note what’s not in the offer: no change to the regional rate, which is already the lowest in the country. If you’re near the 85% line, our regional payroll tax guide shows how it’s tested. And if your wages are close to the threshold, the payroll tax checker is the quick way to see where you sit now.

The emergency services levy: a bill that landed on commercial property

The Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund replaced the old fire services levy and is collected with council rates. For 2026-27 the SRO lists commercial and industrial land at 133 cents per $1,000 of capital improved value, plus a $282 fixed charge for non-residential property.

Illustrative example: A warehouse in Dandenong with a capital improved value of $2m would carry roughly $2,660 in variable charges plus $282, so about $2,942. Primary production land uses a much lower variable rate of 28.7 cents per $1,000.

The Coalition says it would scrap the levy and return to the earlier fire services model, and neither party has published a replacement funding model that we could find. If you rent, check whether your lease passes outgoings on to you. Many commercial leases do, which means the levy may already be in your costs.

Does this change when I should buy, hire or borrow?

Almost never. Three reasons:

1. Timing. The earliest land tax step is 2027/28 and the biggest payroll tax move is 2028-29. A property or hire decision made now is exposed to today’s settings for at least a year or two.
2. Legislation. A government needs both houses of Parliament, and the Legislative Council can slow or reshape any of it.
3. Deal quality. If a purchase only works because of a promised tax cut, it’s a thin deal.

One thing that isn’t election-dependent is the shift from stamp duty to the Commercial and Industrial Property Tax for qualifying commercial buyers. If you’re buying commercial premises in Victoria, the CIPT transition loan guide is the one to read.

If a purchase or a bigger payroll is on your mind, you can check what finance you might qualify for while you wait for the vote. It’s a short form and doesn’t commit you to anything.

What if my business is regional?

Regional Victoria is where the politics is sharpest. Regional voters are a major theme in the campaign, and the farm lobby in particular has been loud about the emergency services levy. For a regional employer the payroll tax pledges matter less than they first appear, because a business that passes the 85% test already pays 1.2125% instead of 4.85%. A higher threshold still helps, but the saving is a quarter the size of the same move in Melbourne.

The land tax and levy promises do more work out of town. Country shops, depots and sheds often carry lower site values, so a rising threshold can take a regional owner out of land tax altogether sooner than a metropolitan one. Primary production land pays the lower 28.7 cents ESVF variable rate, so check how your land use is classified on your council notice. If a lender is valuing regional property for your next loan, regional property as loan security explains what they look at.

A sensible pre-election checklist

• Pull your last land tax assessment and note the site value for each property, including any held in a trust or company.
• Pull your last payroll tax annual reconciliation and work out how far above or below the $1m threshold you sit. If you’re in a group, the grouping letter guide explains why it may be the group’s wages, not just yours, that count.
• Check your lease outgoings for land tax and the emergency services levy.
• Ask your accountant for one number: the bill under today’s rules, and the saving if each party’s promise became law. Compare them against the cost of waiting.
• Keep your cash flexible. Whichever way the vote goes, bills land on set dates, and rule changes take a while to arrive.

Planning a move before polling day? Let’s look at the numbers together

An election season is a good time to review the unglamorous side of your business: the bills that arrive whether or not the polls move. If you’re weighing a property purchase, a bigger payroll or a refinance, we can help you line up finance that works under today’s rules, with any future tax cut as a pleasant surprise rather than the plan.

Enquiring takes about 60 seconds and won’t touch your credit file, because there’s no credit check when you first enquire. We don’t send your details to a pile of lenders, so your phone stays quiet, and a real person who knows Victorian business reads your situation and calls you. Please fill the form in accurately, including your property, your wages and what you’re planning, so we can match the right option first time.

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