Land tax is payable in Queensland on properties valued over a certain threshold. The Queensland Office of State Revenue can approve land tax exemptions for a range of reasons that include landowners’ principal place of residence and business of primary production. Once claimed, the exemption continues to apply indefinitely, which is appropriate as long as landowners are entitled to continue to claim the exemption. However, landowners who claim the exemption are obligated to inform the Commissioner of any change in their circumstances, as their exemption may be no longer valid, and they may in fact have a land tax liability.

The motivations for people not meeting their exemption obligations had never been investigated. It was assumed that the majority of landowners who failed to report a change in their circumstances had not remembered to update their status, and were not deliberately trying to mislead the Office. As such, the Office wanted to reach out to their clients and ask them to clarify their tax exemption status.