A thought experiment, not currently official Libertarian Party WA policy. This page imagines a "what if": what if WA swapped its tangle of state taxes for something flat and simple? Today's figures come from the WA budget papers. The scenario and its sums are illustrative reasoning, not a forecast or a costing. It is not currently official Libertarian Party WA policy.
The better way, in plain words
A good tax is simple, low, hard to dodge and doesn't punish people for doing useful things, like hiring a worker or moving to a better home. Imagine a WA where you could work out your state tax on the back of an envelope, and where buying a house or growing a business didn't trigger a big bill.
1. Today: what WA's state taxes raise
| WA state tax, 2026-27 Budget | $ million |
|---|---|
| Payroll tax | 6,546 |
| Duty on property transfers (transfer duty, landholder duty, foreign buyers surcharge) | 3,950 |
| Motor vehicle taxes (registrations, vehicle licence duty and others) | 2,440 |
| Land tax | 1,295 |
| Insurance taxes | 1,180 |
| Emergency Services Levy | 453 |
| Gambling taxes | 422 |
| Metropolitan Region Improvement Tax | 158 |
| Total state taxation (includes smaller items not listed) | 16,920 |
Source: WA 2026-27 Budget Paper No. 3, Appendix 2, Table 2.1.
Payroll tax, property transfer duties, land tax and the Metropolitan Region Improvement Tax together come to $11,949 million, about 71% of all state taxes (our arithmetic: 6,546 + 3,950 + 1,295 + 158).
2. Today: how the big three work
- Payroll tax: 5.5% on wages once an employer's Australia-wide wages pass $1 million, with the tax-free threshold shrinking to nothing at $7.5 million. (WA Overview of State Taxes and Royalties 2025-26; Revenue WA)
- Transfer duty (stamp duty): five brackets, from $1.90 per $100 up to $5.15 per $100. On a $725,000 purchase the duty is $28,453, before any first home buyer concession. (Overview of State Taxes and Royalties 2025-26)
- Land tax: seven brackets on land that isn't your home, from nil up to 2.67 cents per dollar above $11 million. For example, land valued at $1 million pays $1,750. (Overview of State Taxes and Royalties 2025-26) Your own home is exempt.
- Stamp duty is one of the worst taxes. Federal Treasury modelling estimates conveyancing stamp duty costs about 72 cents in lost living standards for every extra dollar it raises. (Treasury Working Paper 2015-01)
3. What if: a flat, simple WA tax system
Here is one way it could look. It is a sketch to think with, not a plan.
| Today | In the scenario (illustrative) | |
|---|---|---|
| Buying a home | $28,453 duty on a $725,000 purchase (without concessions) | No stamp duty. Moving house for a new job or a growing family costs no tax |
| Hiring staff | 5.5% on wages above a shrinking threshold, with a long list of exemptions | One flat, lower rate with one generous threshold and no special carve-outs |
| Land tax | Seven brackets | One flat rate above one threshold, so you can work it out yourself |
| Paperwork | Different rules for each tax | Fewer taxes, fewer forms |
4. The sums: could WA afford to scrap stamp duty? (illustrative)
All figures are from the WA 2026-27 Budget Paper No. 3 (Overview Table 2 and Appendix 2, Table 2.1). The arithmetic is ours.
- Duty on property transfers is budgeted at $3,950 million in 2026-27.
- The budget already expects an operating surplus of $2,441 million in 2026-27.
- Spending (expenses) is budgeted to grow from $49,140 million to $52,539 million, a rise of $3,399 million or 6.9% in one year.
- If spending grew by 3.4% instead, it would be $50,811 million (49,140 × 1.034), saving about $1,728 million.
- $2,441 million + $1,728 million = about $4,169 million, more than the $3,950 million stamp duty raises.
What the sums leave out: the surplus also pays for things like infrastructure and debt, property duties swing with the housing market, and slower spending growth means real choices about services. This shows the size of the choice, not that it is easy.
A note on flat payroll tax. WA Treasury estimates the payroll tax-free threshold was worth $2,149.8 million to employers in 2025-26 (Budget Paper No. 3, Appendix 10, Table 10.1). Any flat rate has to be set with that in mind: a lower rate with no threshold would land harder on small employers, which is why this scenario keeps one generous threshold.
Reminder: this is a thought experiment, not currently official Libertarian Party WA policy. We publish it to get West Australians thinking about how they are taxed. Tell us what you think, read what we are actually campaigning for on our policies page, or join us.