MORNINGTON Peninsula Shire Council is facing an unintended consequence of their short stay accommodation law, with the State Revenue Office demanding they hand over their database of short stay property owners. It is believed the data will be used by the SRO for “ascertaining whether liabilities exist under the provisions of the Land Tax Act and the Taxation Administration Act”.
The Mornington Peninsula Short Stay Accommodation Local Law 2018 was introduced with great fanfare to place responsibility for occupant behaviour in short stay rental accommodation (SSRA) on the owner of the property. It requires the registration of all short stay properties on the Mornington Peninsula, and the payment of an annual fee that currently stands at $352.
The local law requires owners of short stay accommodation to:
- Appoint a designated contact person to respond to neighbour complaints within two hours
- Ensure occupants adhere to a code of conduct
- Provide adequate off-street parking and garbage bins
- Display a registration number on all online platforms that advertise the property.
At the time of the law’s introduction in 2018, the Mornington Peninsula had been dealing with ongoing problems of anti-social behaviour at short stay accommodation.
The local law was touted as the first of its kind in the state (New laws flagged for ‘party houses’, The News 13/11/2017), with the shire stating “the aim of the proposed law is to address the impacts of anti-social behaviour by occupants of short stay rental accommodation properties across the peninsula. “It follows complaints each summer by neighbouring residents about rowdy tenants who ruin their weekends with late-night noise and alcohol-fuelled aggression.”
In a letter seen by The News, the shire’s director – community strengthening, Tanya Scicluna, told council officers that they had received a request from the State Revenue Office to provide them with short term rental accommodation property owner data for the purpose of its responsibility as a revenue collection agency.
“The SRO advised that this data is required for their compliance program to ensure that Land Tax is correctly assessed (and paid),” said Scicluna. “MPS officers also sought legal advice regarding the provision of this information and data to the SRO and have confirmed that pursuant to section 73 of the Taxation Administration Act 1997 (Vic) council is mandated to provide this information.” Section 73 grants power to the Commissioner of the SRO to demand, with written notice, the “production of a document or thing in the person’s custody or control that is described in the notice” (TAA s 73(1)(c)).
The letter said “given the concerns some property owners may have with the shire providing their information to the SRO (and any subsequent consequences) without their knowledge, we will be sending the attached advice to all MPS property owners who have registered SSRA to advise them that the SRO have requested their information and that council is required to provide it”.
A statement sent to The News, attributed to mayor Cr Simon Brooks, said “We have about 3300 active properties on our short stay rental database. However, based on available figures, we estimate there are more than 6000 short stay rental properties on the peninsula. “Shire officers have access to software that can supply the address of an advertised short stay rental property and we will write to property owners letting them know about the need to register.” Failure to register a short stay rental property can attract a fine from the shire of $1188.
The News believes a letter has been sent to all short stay rental accommodation property owners. They were informed that while they believed they were registering their short stay rental accommodation properties with the shire solely for the administration of the shire’s local law, their information would be supplied to the SRO for the “purpose of protection of public revenue”.
The letter to property owners explained the information was requested under a “section 73 notice” and that “council’s understanding regarding the use of this information is limited”, referring queries to the State Revenue Office. The request by the SRO comes as the state government introduce the Short Stay Levy Bill to parliament proposing the introduction of a 7.5% levy on all short term rental accommodation from 1 January 2025.
First published in the Mornington News – 17 September 2024
