Capital Gains Tax (CGT) on property is an unavoidable reality for investors and even some homeowners. Calculating your liability can often feel like navigating a complex legal maze, leading to stress, costly errors, and delays in financial planning. Accurately determining your tax position is not just about compliance—it’s about optimizing your returns and making informed...
CalculatorsConveyancingPropertyNavigating the Labyrinth: A Guide to Victorian Land Tax for Investors and Professionals
2 March 2026
For property investors and professional advisors in Victoria, the annual Land Tax assessment can feel less like a simple calculation and more like a journey through a complex, ever-shifting labyrinth. As a revenue-generating measure for the state, land tax is a critical, yet often misunderstood, component of property investment. Land Tax Navigator - Land Tax...
CalculatorsConveyancingPropertyThe Quarter-Acre Heart: A Nostalgic Look at the Great Australian Dream
2 March 2026
There’s a certain golden light that shines over our memories of the past—a light that seems to fall brightest on the classic image of the Great Australian Dream. It’s an image etched into the collective soul of a generation: a humble, honest house on a quarter-acre block, perhaps a Hills Hoist in the backyard, and...
Buying property in Victoria involves more than just the purchase price — stamp duty, government fees, and lenders mortgage insurance (LMI) can add tens of thousands of dollars to your upfront costs. To make this easier to navigate, I've built a free Victorian Property Purchase Calculator using the latest 2025/26 rates. The calculator handles two...
CalculatorsConveyancingPropertyState Duties and Land Tax – real property – comparative tables and calculators
27 February 2026
Click the link for a comprehensive comparison between the States and Territories. Compare the highs and lows Link >> Compare State Taxes - Stamp Duty and Land Tax - Comparative Calculator Whilst all care is taken to ensure accuracy, you still need to verify the figures independently. Also, many concessions, surcharges and possibly exemptions might apply. ...
ConveyancingPropertyAustralia’s Housing Crisis Is Worse Than You Think — But It Can Be Fixed
27 February 2026
Australia is running out of homes. Not in some distant, theoretical sense — right now, today, the numbers tell a story of a system under severe and worsening strain. In the first year of the National Housing Accord, Australia completed roughly 174,000 new dwellings against a target of 240,000 — a shortfall of 66,000 homes...
Transferring property between spouses or domestic partners is a common occurrence, particularly when managing shared assets. In Victoria, Australia, the Duties Act 2000 provides for an exemption from land transfer duty (also known as stamp duty) on such transactions, which can result in significant savings. However, strict eligibility requirements must be met to qualify for...
Please note that as of January 1, 2026, Hayton Kosky Lawyers will not be accepting any new instructions for matters relating to adverse possession or boundary disputes. We will continue to provide our full range of other legal services. For information on our other areas of practice, please visit our website. Adverse possession and boundary...
Adverse PossessionPropertyGood Fences, Bad Blood: A Legal Look at the Rinehart Fence Dispute (NSW)
31 January 2026
Robert Frost’s famous line — “Good fences make good neighbours” — is often treated as rural gospel. Mark the boundary, keep the peace, and move on. But a dispute now heading through the NSW Supreme Court shows how quickly a fence can become something far bigger than timber, wire and posts. In a case attracting...
ConveyancingMortgagePropertyMortgage Fraud in Australia: How Fraudsters Exploit Banking Systems and Professional Networks
19 January 2026
The Australian mortgage market, valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, has become an increasingly attractive target for sophisticated fraudsters. Recent high-profile cases have exposed vulnerabilities in bank approval processes and revealed how corrupt professionals—including mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and lawyers—can work in coordinated networks to perpetrate massive fraud schemes. Understanding these tactics is...
