Key Highlights

  • The Victorian Coalition promises no new or increased taxes.
  • It pledges a cash surplus by 2032.
  • It would repeal levies on schools, GP visits, short stays and family homes.
  • Any Revenue gap would need to be closed through spending decisions or other taxes.

Victoria's Liberal-National Coalition has made two promises that will shape any budget it delivers after the 28 November election: no new or increased taxes, and a return to a cash surplus by 2032. Alongside them sits a list of state levies it says it would abolish, from the tax on short-stay bookings to Payroll Tax on non-government schools. With the caretaker period under way, here is what each of those levies is and who pays it now.

All of these are election proposals. None would change until a new government legislated them.

The pledge: no new taxes and a surplus by 2032

The election promise tracker, updated on 4 November, records the Coalition as promising no new or increased taxes and a cash surplus by 2032.

A cash surplus means the government's cash receipts exceed its cash payments in a year. Victoria's budget papers report several measures of the bottom line, and the cash result is generally harder to bring into surplus than the operating result because it includes spending on infrastructure.

A no-new-taxes pledge also limits how a future government could respond to a revenue shortfall. Any gap would need to be closed through spending decisions, growth in existing tax bases, or Commonwealth payments such as GST.

The repeal list

According to reports, the Coalition would:

  • Repeal payroll tax on schools
  • Repeal "taxes on GP visits"
  • Repeal the short-stay accommodation levy
  • Repeal the emergency services levy on family homes.

It would also cut payroll tax more broadly, return the land tax threshold to 2023 levels and lift the first home buyer stamp duty exemption threshold to $1 million.

Labor has made its own land tax promise, which the tracker lists as rolling back its earlier land tax increases and returning rates to previous levels over six years.

What each levy is

Payroll tax on schools. The blanket payroll tax exemption for non-government schools was removed from 1 July 2024, announced in the 2023–24 state budget alongside measures to repay COVID-19 debt. Schools are now exempt only if the Education Minister declares them, based on a threshold of recurrent income per student. The Victorian government says that threshold was originally $15,000 and rose to $16,397 from 1 July 2026 under the 2026–27 budget. The Coalition's promise would remove the tax for schools above the line.

Taxes on GP visits. This refers to payroll tax on payments to contractor GPs, which can be treated as wages under the relevant contract provisions. Since 1 July 2025, payments for bulk-billed consultations have been exempt, so practices get a partial exemption tied to their share of bulk-billed work. The Coalition's shadow health minister, Georgie Crozier, has said a Liberal government would "absolutely" abolish GP payroll tax, according to Medical Republic.

Short-stay accommodation levy. Since 1 January 2025, a flat 7.5% levy has applied to the total booking fees for stays of less than 28 continuous days, according to the State Revenue Office. Booking platforms collect it where a stay is booked through them. Hotels and motels are excluded, as are stays in a property that is someone's principal place of residence. The money goes to Homes Victoria, with 25% to be invested in regional Victoria.

Emergency services levy on family homes. From 1 July 2025 the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund replaced the Fire Services Property Levy. The legislation received Royal Assent on 27 May 2025, and councils collect the levy on rates notices. The Coalition's promise, as listed by the reports, applies to family homes rather than all property.

Hypothetical example: the short-stay levy

Hypothetical example: a family books a holiday house on the Mornington Peninsula for five nights through a booking platform. The total booking fee, including cleaning fees and GST, is $1,600.

  • Short-stay levy at 7.5%: $1,600 x 0.075 = $120.
  • Total paid: $1,720.

If the levy were repealed, that $120 would no longer be collected, unless operators chose to keep prices where they are. A stay of 28 continuous days or longer does not attract the levy, and neither does a hotel room.

The trade-off behind the promises

Every item on the repeal list reduces state revenue, and the Coalition has paired them with a commitment not to raise any other tax. That means the surplus target relies mainly on spending restraint and growth in existing revenue, rather than new sources of tax.

Policy tracker does not set out a year-by-year path to the 2032 surplus. Victoria's Parliamentary Budget Office prepares costings for parties on request during the campaign and publicly releases them when asked. At the 2022 election it received 894 costing requests from 10 parties. Published costings would show the revenue cost of each repeal.

Victoria's land tax changes illustrate how large the stakes are. The COVID Debt measures announced in the 2023–24 budget brought lower-value landholdings into land tax from the 2024 land tax year and added a ten-year temporary surcharge, including flat charges of $500 or $975 for smaller holdings, according to the State Revenue Office. Both major parties now propose to unwind at least part of that, on different timetables.

Labor's promises carry their own revenue cost. Its plan to return land tax rates to previous levels over six years would phase in gradually, while the Coalition's threshold change would take more landholders out of the tax.

The first home buyer promise works differently. Lifting the stamp duty exemption threshold to $1 million would not abolish stamp duty but would widen the group of first home buyers who pay none.

What to watch

  • Saturday 28 November 2026: election day. The caretaker period has begun, so no new tax decisions are expected from the current government before then.
  • Whether the Coalition releases Parliamentary Budget Office costings for each repeal and the path to a 2032 surplus.
  • Detail on the GP payroll tax promise, including whether it would extend beyond general practice.
  • How the emergency services levy promise would apply to farms, businesses and Investment properties, which would not appear to be covered by a pledge limited to family homes.
  • Labor's costed response, including the cost of its six-year land tax rollback.

Until legislation passes after the election, current levies, thresholds and rates continue to apply.