As we move into the 2026 tax year, property owners across Victoria should be aware of critical filing requirements regarding the Vacant Residential Land Tax (VRLT). To ensure compliance and avoid potential penalties, it is essential to determine if your holdings are subject to these expanded regulations
Key Filing Deadline Property owners must submit their VRLT notifications to the State Revenue Office (SRO) no later than 15 February 2026.
Who is Required to Notify? The VRLT applies to specific categories of land within Victoria. You must submit a notification if any of the following applied during the 2025 calendar year:
Vacant Homes: Residential properties that were unoccupied for more than six months in 2025.
Extended Construction: Homes that have been under renovation or construction for more than two years as of 31 December 2025.
Undeveloped Land: Residentially zoned land in metropolitan Melbourne that has remained undeveloped for five years or more.
Notification Requirements If you have submitted a notification in previous years, you only need to file again if your circumstances have changed (e.g., the property is no longer vacant or has been sold). However, first-time applicants or those with changes in status must act before the February deadline.
Exemptions and Submissions The notification process is also the primary mechanism for claiming exemptions. Common exemptions include properties used as a primary place of residence or designated holiday homes.
All notifications and exemption applications must be completed online via the Victorian State Revenue Office (SRO) Website. We recommend reviewing your portfolio immediately to ensure all 2025 activity is accurately reported. For specific advice regarding your tax position, please consult with your financial advisor or legal representative.
A sudden death can place financial stress on those who depend on you. If this happens, life cover can help them pay the bills and other living expenses.
What is life cover
Life cover is also called ‘term life insurance’ or ‘death cover’. It pays a lump sum amount of money when you die. The money goes to the people you nominate as beneficiaries on the policy. If you haven’t named a beneficiary, the super trustee or your estate decides where the money goes.
Life cover may also come with terminal illness cover. This pays a lump sum if you’re diagnosed with a terminal illness with a limited life expectancy.
Important: Accidental death insurance is different from life cover. It will only pay out if you die from an accident. It will not provide cover if you die from an illness, disease or suicide. This type of cover often has a lot of exclusions.
To understand what’s covered under a policy and the exclusions, read the product disclosure statement (PDS).
Decide if you need life cover
If you have a partner or dependents, life insurance can help repay debt and cover living costs if you die.
To decide how much life cover to get, consider how much money you or your family would:
need — to pay the mortgage, credit cards and any other debts, child care, school fees and ongoing living expenses
receive — from super, savings, the sale of any investments, your paid leave balance, and support from your extended family
The difference between these is the amount of cover you should get.
If you need help deciding if you need life cover, and how much, speak to us.
How to buy life cover
Check if you already hold life insurance through super. Most super funds offer default life cover that’s cheaper than buying it directly. You can increase your level of cover through your super fund if you need to.
You can also buy life cover from:
a financial adviser
an insurance broker
an insurance company
Life cover can be bought on its own or packaged with trauma, TPD or income protection insurance. If it’s packaged, your life cover may be reduced by any amount paid on other claims in the package. Check the PDS or ask your insurer.
Life cover premiums
You can generally choose to pay for life cover with either:
variable age-stepped premiums (previously known as ‘stepped premiums’) — are based on your age and recalculated at each policy renewal. Generally, this means that the cost of your cover will increase as you get older because there is a higher chance of making a claim as you age.
variable premiums (previously known as ‘level premiums’)— charge a higher premium at the start of the policy, but changes to the cost aren’t based on your age, so increases generally happen more slowly over time.
Your choice of variable age-stepped or variable premiums has an impact on how much your premiums will cost now and in the future.
Regardless of which way you choose to pay for your cover, premiums are not guaranteed and may change annually. Speak to your insurer or read the PDS for more information.
Compare life cover
Once you know how much life cover you need, shop around and compare:
benefits and policy features
exclusions
waiting periods before you can claim
limits on cover
the cost of the premiums — now and in the future
A cheaper policy may have more exclusions, or it may become more expensive in the future. You can find information about the policy on the insurer’s website or in the product disclosure statement (PDS).
What you need to tell your insurer
An insurer will ask you questions when you apply for or change your insurance. These questions may be about your:
age
job
medical history
family history, such as a history of disease
lifestyle (for example, if you’re a smoker)
high-risk sports or hobbies (such as skydiving)
If an insurer doesn’t ask for your medical history, it may mean that the policy has more exclusions or narrower policy definitions.
The information you provide will help the insurer to decide:
if they should insure you
how much your premiums will be
terms and conditions for your policy
It is important that you answer the questions honestly. Providing misleading or incomplete answers could lead an insurer to cancel or vary your cover, or decline a claim you make.
Making a life cover claim
If someone close to you dies and you need to make a claim, or if you need to make a terminal illness claim, see how to make a life insurance claim.
Source: Reproduced with the permission of ASIC’s MoneySmart Team. This article was originally published at https://moneysmart.gov.au/how-life-insurance-works/life-cover Important note: This provides general information and hasn’t taken your circumstances into account. It’s important to consider your particular circumstances before deciding what’s right for you. Although the information is from sources considered reliable, we do not guarantee that it is accurate or complete. You should not rely upon it and should seek qualified advice before making any investment decision. Except where liability under any statute cannot be excluded, we do not accept any liability (whether under contract, tort or otherwise) for any resulting loss or damage of the reader or any other person. Past performance is not a reliable guide to future returns. Important Any information provided by the author detailed above is separate and external to our business and our Licensee. Neither our business nor our Licensee takes any responsibility for any action or any service provided by the author. Any links have been provided with permission for information purposes only and will take you to external websites, which are not connected to our company in any way. Note: Our company does not endorse and is not responsible for the accuracy of the contents/information contained within the linked site(s) accessible from this page.
This year is shaping up as one of the biggest for tax and superannuation reform.
Several major changes begin on 1 July, so small businesses that aren’t prepared, face compliance headaches, cashflow pressure and ATO scrutiny.
Here’s what you need to know.
Super must be paid every pay day
The most significant change is the introduction of Payday Superannuation. Payday Super will help employers meet their super guarantee (SG) obligations and help protect the retirement funds of millions of Australians.
From 1 July, employers must pay super at the same time as wage and salary payments.i
That means Super Guarantee (SG) contributions must be in an employee’s account within seven business days of each pay day.ii
For new employees, or those paying to a new super fund, you have 20 business days for the first payment to reach the account.
The new rules also include changes to how you calculate and report contributions.
Super will be calculated at 12 per cent of qualified earnings (QE). These include ordinary time earnings; salary sacrifice contributions and certain payments to contractors who are treated as employees.
You must include the year-to-date (YTD) amounts of QE and super liability in each Single Touch Payroll report.
SuperStream messaging upgrades
From 1 July 2026 there are changes to the contributions messaging used in the SuperStream system, which is the electronic standardised format you must use to pay super contributions.
The messaging changes include clearer error messaging and are designed to reduce the likelihood that your employee contributions are rejected by a super fund.
What employers need to do
The ATO is urging small businesses not to leave preparations to the last minute. Payday Super will increase your administrative workload and payroll processes will need to change.
Confirm employee super fund details are current and correct
Check your default super fund’s registration details are up to date
Consider paying super contributions more frequently now to identify any errors or problems with rejected contributions before the rules change
Review your payroll software and internal systems to make sure they’re ready to support Payday Super and the SuperStream changes
If you currently use the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House, be aware that it closes on 1 July 2026 and you’ll need to make new arrangements
Read about the changes to SuperStream and the New Payments Platform
And, an important note for those who currently pay super quarterly; you should model the impact of the more frequent payments now to check how your cashflow will be affected after 1 July. For small businesses that have tight profit margins, you will need to plan carefully and potentially create a business forecast to manage your cash flow.
New lower tax rates
From 1 July 2026, the tax rate for individual income between $18,201 and $45,000 will fall from 16 per cent to 15 per cent, with a further reduction to 14 per cent from 1 July 2027.iii
Make sure your payroll system is ready for the change and that the correct amounts will be withheld from employees’ wage and salary payments from the first pay run.
Also, check that the new rates do not affect other payroll calculations such as salary packaging or super contributions.
Earnings tax on high balance super accounts
Some small businesses also need to be aware the Better Targeted Superannuation Concessions (BTSC) measures start from 1 July 2026.
Following recent amendments, the BTSC for high balance fund members now includes a second threshold on super accounts over $10 million, with a concessional 30 per cent tax rate applying on the proportion of earnings corresponding to total superannuation balances (TSBs) between $3 million and $10 million.
A new 40 per cent tax rate applies on earnings from the portion of the TSB over $10 million. The earnings tax only applies to ‘realised’ gains on assets, such as when interest is earned or a property is sold.
If you need help preparing for the upcoming tax and super changes, contact our office today.
