Treasury's "household basket" has stayed below inflation, but it leaves out the big taxes. Stamp duty is up 122% in real terms since 2017-18 and payroll tax 49%, stamp duty brackets haven't moved since at least 2010-11 and the land tax threshold since 2008-09, and dividends are moved between years in ways that flatter particular budgets.
Sources: 2017-18 Annual Report on State Finances, Appendix 2 Table 2.1 (actuals); 2026-27 Budget Paper 3, Appendix 2 Table 2.1 (budget estimates); Water Corporation Annual Report 2025; RevenueWA tax rate pages (linked below).
"Real" means adjusted by Perth CPI. ABS CPI, Perth all groups, rose from an average of 76.60 in 2017-18 to 102.46 in the June quarter 2026 (+33.8%) (ABS CPI data).
Findings
1. State taxes have outrun inflation by a mile
Updated 13 Oct 2026
2017-18 actual vs 2026-27 budget estimate, nominal $m (Table 2.1 in each document). The real change uses +33.8% CPI.
| Line | 2017-18 | 2026-27 | Nominal | Real |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transfer (stamp) duty | 1,223 | 3,637 | +197% | +122% |
| Payroll tax | 3,279 | 6,546 | +100% | +49% |
| Motor vehicle taxes (rego/duty) | 1,360 | 2,440 | +79% | +34% |
| Land tax | 840 | 1,295 | +54% | +15% |
| Dividends from GTEs* | 1,718 | 3,082 | +79% | +34%* |
- *2026-27 dividends are inflated by timing. BP3 says the 2025-26 interim dividends from Water Corp and Western Power were deferred into 2026-27, plus a one-off $400m Pilbara Ports special dividend. It expects dividends to "normalise" afterwards (BP3 2026-27, p.94). Don't use the dividend row as a trend.
- Our read: Combined, these five lines rose from $8.4bn to $17.0bn (+102% nominal, about +51% real). WA's population grew about 14–15% over a similar period (see the Bigger government page), so the take per person is up roughly a third in real terms.
2. The "household basket" is real, but it leaves out the big taxes
Updated 13 Oct 2026
Treasury's "representative household" (BP3 Appendix 8). 2017-18 levels from Budget Paper 3 2017-18, Table 8.6; 2026-27 levels from Budget Paper 3 2026-27, Table 8.7, pp.346–347. Nominal dollars. Perth CPI over the same period: +33.8%.
| Item | 2017-18 | 2026-27 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity | $1,722.53 | $2,086.38 | +21% |
| Water, wastewater, drainage | $1,712.31 | $1,967.71 | +15% |
| Vehicle licence charge | $353.48 | $482.76 | +37% |
| Motor Injury Insurance | $382.60 | $473.20 | +24% |
| Driver's licence | $85.00 | $98.82 | +16% |
| Emergency Services Levy | $278.00 | $354.15 | +27% |
| Stamp duty on insurance (general + MII) | $211.95 | $357.21 | +69% |
| Public transport (standard + student) | $1,341.60 | $820.26 | −39% |
| One-off $100 fuel support payments (×2) | – | −$200.00 | – |
| Total | $6,099.57 | $6,450.19 | +5.7% |
- Fact: 2026-27 is the "seventh year in a row" the basket is "in line with or below projected inflation". It falls 3.3% in 2026-27, mainly from the full-year Go Anywhere fare (−$181.98) and the $200 fuel payments (BP3 2026-27 p.347). In 2025-26, electricity and water rose 2.5% and vehicle licence charges 3% while the basket fell 0.8% (BP3 2025-26; ABC 1 Jul 2025).
- Fact: The model changes its usage assumptions over time. The 2026-27 model assumes 4,964 kWh and 220 kL, and Treasury updated utility usage assumptions in 2026-27 (BP3 2026-27 p.346). Long-run comparisons are indicative.
- Our read: To be fair, the basket has grown well below inflation since 2017-18, mostly thanks to cheaper fares and one-off credits. But it excludes transfer duty, land tax (passed on in rents) and payroll tax (passed on in prices), the lines that more than doubled (finding 1). Stamp duty on insurance is up 69% at an unchanged rate, because premiums rose.
3. Your water bill: profits kept off the books, then moved between years
Updated 13 Oct 2026
- Fact: Water Corporation's operating business made a surplus of $1,275m before tax ($893m after tax) in 2024-25. Its "Dividends provided" line was projected at $843m, actual $0 (Annual Report 2025, p.28 performance summary).
- Fact: "Net accrual to government", in $m (Annual Report 2025, p.28):
| 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend | 4 | 642 | – | – | – | – |
| Tax equivalents | 373 | 369 | 392 | 419 | 467 | 508 |
| Operating subsidy (paid to Water Corp) | (431) | (469) | (519) | (614) | (606) | (597) |
| Net accrual to government | (54) | 543 | (127) | (196) | (171) | (127) |
(2023-24 and 2024-25 also deduct $32m and $39m for "RESP, RCF, RfR" items.)
- Fact: On 12 May 2025 cabinet decided Water Corp would retain its 2024-25 interim dividend. The final 2024-25 dividend was due by 31 December 2025 and is not in the 2024-25 accounts (Annual Report 2025, financial overview p.27–28 and dividends note to the financial statements). The December 2025 Quarterly Financial Results Report says dividend income was up $1bn because of "the timing of final dividend payments for Western Power and the Water Corporation following the Government's decision to delay the interim dividends" (December 2025 Quarterly Financial Results Report).
- Fact: BP3 2026-27 states the deferral of the 2025-26 interim dividends to 2026-27 was done "to better match the timing of revenue and expenses across the outyears". It forecasts general government dividend revenue of $518m (2024-25), $1,494m (2025-26), $3,082m (2026-27), then $1,686m, $2,181m and $1,807m (BP3 2026-27 pp.49, 72 and 94).
- Our read: No dividend was booked for four straight years (2021-22 to 2024-25) while profits were kept inside Water Corp. The money then lands in the state budget in whichever year suits. Tax equivalents of about $0.5bn a year are paid regardless, and the state pays back about $0.6bn a year in subsidies for country and other loss-making services.
4. Bracket creep: thresholds frozen for up to 18 years
Updated 13 Oct 2026
- Fact: Transfer (stamp) duty general scale: $1.90 per $100 to $120,000, rising to $28,453 + $5.15 per $100 above $725,000 (RevenueWA, updated 30 Jul 2026). The same brackets were in the 2010-11 Overview of State Taxes (residential scale), so they are unchanged for at least 16 years. Recent changes have only been first-home-buyer concessions (now $0 duty to $600k from 7 May 2026).
- Fact: Land tax: the nil threshold of $300,000 appears in the Land Tax Act 2002 s.5 table for 2008/09 and in every year since. The current scale (flat $300 to $420k, then 0.25%–2.67%) has applied from 2015/16 (Land Tax Act 2002 s.5; RevenueWA). BP3 2026-27 says land tax will rise to $1.5bn in 2026-27 "consistent with a lift in unimproved land values and the number of eligible taxpayers" (BP3 2026-27 p.78).
- Fact: Payroll tax: the threshold rose from $850,000 to $950,000 on 1 Jan 2020 and to $1m on 1 Jul 2020, unchanged since. The rate is 5.5%, tapering out at $7.5m (Overview of State Taxes and Royalties 2020-21; RevenueWA). No change in the 2026-27 budget (BDO).
- Our read: Prices are up about 34% since 2017-18 alone, and these thresholds haven't moved. The $300k land tax line set in 2008 would be roughly $450k+ if it had kept pace with CPI. Treasury itself says the growing number of taxpayers is part of the land tax forecast.