The ACT government has defended issuing a $19,300 interest bill on top of unpaid land tax from 15 years ago after it identified a home owner who had failed to declare a land tax liability.
Tax bills would not be wiped after an arbitrary period because this would be unfair to taxpayers who paid up on time, a government spokesperson said.
Land tax applies to residential properties which are not the owner's principal place of residence.
The home owner, who did not wish to be named, received a notice from the ACT Revenue Office in February listing $3000 worth of unpaid land tax across the 2008, 2009 and 2010 financial years.
Penalties of $1240 had also been added for the late fees.
Interest rates totalling more than $19,300 were added to his debt.
The home owner said the email he received earlier this year was the first time he heard from the ACT Revenue Office regarding the overdue fees.
The Canberra Times knows of another two home owners who received notice of outstanding land tax in 2024, dating to before 2015.
The historic fines follow a territory government crackdown to recoup more than $50 million worth of unpaid land tax through data-matching techniques.
Property owners must pay land tax on properties that are not their main residence.
It is now calculated by combining a fixed charge - now $1612 per quarter - and the average of the property's unimproved value over the last five years.
Land tax is self assessed and property owners are required to notify the ACT Revenue Office if they become liable for land tax.
Interest is charged for most types of unpaid debts in the ACT, including rates, emergency services levies and land rent.
Land tax debts are charged using compound monthly interest - currently 12.36 per cent - so unpaid fees can quickly balloon.
An ACT government spokesperson said "tax liabilities are not automatically extinguished after an arbitrary time period".
"This would be unfair to other taxpayers who have paid taxes when due."
But the home owner The Canberra Times spoke to said he did not feel the laws on this were made clear as a relatively new home owner in 2007.
"[Land tax] in the territory feels complicated. I didn't know what I needed to pay," he said.
"I don't think it'd fair that it took [the government] 17 years to notice this and I wasn't hiding anything."
The Canberra Times understands a bond was lodged with the ACT Revenue Office at the time the house was first rented out.
"I didn't know there was a separate step I needed to go through to [notify] the revenue office that the house was rented out," the home owner said.
The ACT government spokesperson did not confirm if an audit of historic land taxes had been recently undertaken.
"The ACT revenue office regularly reviews land tax compliance as part of its ongoing compliance program," the spokesperson said.
