Torquay rates notices, council valuations and holiday homes

Every Torquay rates notice carries a valuation. Surf Coast Shire does not choose that figure, and it is not the kind of valuation an accountant or the State Revenue Office asks for when a particular date matters. Knowing where it comes from helps when deciding whether to object, and whether it can stand in for a market valuation.

Where the figure on the notice comes from

Under the Valuation of Land Act 1960, the Victorian Valuer-General values property across the state every year. Surf Coast Shire's Revenue and Rating Plan 2025-29 says so, and says the council applies capital improved value, or CIV, to all properties in the municipality. CIV is the land together with the house and other improvements.

The same plan describes the other two bases. Site value is the land alone. Net annual value is a rental figure, set at 5 per cent of CIV for residential properties. Site value matters for land tax.

The current notices reflect values as at 1 January 2026, according to the council's valuation objection page. A notice that arrives months later still describes the market, and the house, as at the start of January.

How Surf Coast turns CIV into rates

The council multiplies CIV by a rate in the dollar. Its rates calculations page lists three categories for 2026-27: general, farm and commercial/industrial. The general rate in the dollar is 0.0015948. The council's own worked example takes a property with a CIV of $900,000 and arrives at $1,435.32 in general rates, plus a $245 municipal charge and a $533 urban garbage charge.

There is no separate holiday home rate in Surf Coast. The rating plan defines general rate land as land used primarily for residential purposes, or any land that is not farm or commercial/industrial land. It also says vacant land zoned residential under the Surf Coast Planning Scheme is rated at the general level. A Torquay house kept for summer weekends and one lived in all year pay the same rate in the dollar. The difference in the bill comes from CIV.

The notice also carries the Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund. The State Revenue Office says it replaced the fire services property levy on 1 July 2025, with a fixed charge by property classification and a variable charge based on CIV.

Objecting to the valuation

The council's objection page allows a formal objection to the valuation or the classification within two months of the issue date on the rate notice. The Valuer-General's online objection portal is its preferred method. The rates are still due on the due date while the objection is investigated.

The rating plan adds two points. The window is four months where the notice was not originally issued to the occupier of the land. And when the Valuer-General makes a supplementary valuation after an extension, a new build or a subdivision, the two months run from the supplementary notice.

An objection argues about the value at 1 January, not today. The useful evidence is comparable Torquay sales around that date, and an accurate account of the house as it stood then.

Land tax and vacant residential land tax

Land tax is a separate State tax based on the site values the Valuer-General supplies. The State Revenue Office's land tax guidance lists holiday homes as taxable land. Land tax applies where an individual's total taxable landholdings are $50,000 or more, or $25,000 for trusts, at midnight on 31 December of the previous year. The rating plan says an owner can object to the land tax valuation within two months of receiving the land tax assessment.

Vacant residential land tax is a different test again. The SRO's 2024-25 annual review says it now applies across all of Victoria to residential land vacant for more than six months in a calendar year. Its exemptions page exempts a holiday home if you or relatives use it for at least four weeks in the calendar year and your principal place of residence is in Australia, with one holiday home exemption per year. The SRO now asks owners of vacant residential land to notify it by 15 February. Its current rates page sets the tax at 1 per cent of CIV for the first year of liability, 2 per cent for a second consecutive year and 3 per cent for a third or later year.

When the rates figure is not enough

CIV is a mass valuation struck for rating. It is not prepared for a particular purpose, and its date is fixed at 1 January. When a Torquay property changes hands, including within a family, the SRO says it may require a valuation where the price is equal to or less than the CIV for rating. For capital gains tax, the date is the event date, which is rarely 1 January.

For a signed opinion at the date you need, you can order a certified valuation or a stamp duty valuation. If you are unsure which report fits, contact the site with the address, the purpose and the date.