#tax #stampDuty #climate #government #greenhouse #areYouACommunistGetInTheVan #NSW

In New South Wales and other places, when you buy a house, you pay a lump of tax. (We call it "stamp duty", I have no idea why don't ask me).
It doesn't hurt so much, because borrowing more money to cover tax is no added pain - you've already been beaten to a bloody pulp by a bank, what's an extra $50k on $500k anyway?

Idea:
The Federal Government imposes a tax on buying property, payable after one year.
As a buyer, you either; spend 0.5% of the property on solar, insulation, electrification or storage, or you pay 0.5% to the government.

The payment would be tied to climate change mitigation efforts. It'd be a lot like the Medicare levy - either do your own, or forfeit an equivalent amount so the Government does it for you.

Call it the Greenhouse Levy.

(If the levy has already been paid on a property in the last 10 years, no need to pay it again, you are already infrastructured-up. After that? it becomes payable, that infrastructure needs some maintenance now.)