Tax-dodging investors slugged with millions in fines for empty homes

Victorian investors are being caught out not paying Vacant Residential Land Tax by their hundreds every year, with calls for more enforcement. Tax-dodging property investors are being caught in their hundreds trying to get away with leaving homes sitting empty in the midst of Victoria’s housing crisis. A near doubling of annual investigations in latest government data has revealed that for every 100 people paying their dues there were 17 who hadn’t. The Victorian government is now facing calls to scrap the “misleading” Vacant Residential Land Tax or to invest more support into enforcing it, with suggestions tens of thousands more are still dudding the state’s coffers and worsening its housing woes. RELATED: Victorian first-home buyers forced to repay millions in grants and tax Offshore landlords claim billions in Australian property tax write-offs Victorian landlords face $62k fine for asking tenants wrong question Latest State Revenue Office data indicates that in the 2025 financial year 956 potential tax dodges were investigated in relation to empty homes or land. It resulted in 789 being assessed at fault and efforts to recoup $38,455,871 in unpaid tax and fines — both figures s...