Stamp duties in some Australian cities have tripled since 2004, according to a report from Business Insider Australia.

In Sydney and Melbourne, the unpopular levy has added tens of thousands of dollars to the final price investors pay in the last 15 years, according to an analysis from Domain.

In Brisbane, investors are paying almost four times as much stamp duty as they did in 2004, Business Insider reported.

In Perth and other state capitals, buyers pay double or more in stamp duties, the report said.

Stamp duty paid on a median-priced home

 

City

 

 

MAR 2004

 

MAR 2019

$ increase, 2004 to 2019

% increase, 2004 to 2019

Sydney

$20.919

$42,486

$21,567

103%

Melbourne

$15,587

$44,002

$28,415

182%

Brisbane

$3,816

$11,357

$7,541

198%

Adelaide

$11,822

$23,593

$11,770

100%

Perth

$11,415

$21,659

$10,244

90%

Hobart

$6,164

$17,010

$10,846

176%

Sources: ABS; Domain Group, State Treasury departments

Stamp duty is paid for every purchased property. It reduces the amount a buyer spends on real estate and hurts sellers, according to Domain Chief Economist Trent Wiltshire.

“Stamp duty is one of the least efficient taxes out there, and land tax — what we should replace it with — is one of the most efficient taxes out there,” Wiltshire said.

A land tax would make housing more affordable and would boost the weakened economy by $17bn in productivity gains every year, according to The Grattan Institute.

“If people work in jobs they are more suited for, they produce more with the same input with a more efficient labour force. It makes greater use of our existing stock of dwellings because people live in more appropriately sized houses,” Wiltshire said.