The Court ruled that SCC’s not-for-profit Tasmania retirement villages were not required to pay normal rates because they operated on land owned and occupied “exclusively for charitable purposes” under the Local Government Act.
It also declined to hear an appeal by four Tasmanian councils on a 2018 Supreme Court decision that ruled the same.
The verdict has already cost Hobart City Council up to $2 million and Kingbourough Council roughly $500,000 – and it has also opened the floodgates for other NFP organisations to apply for the same exemption.
Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein has since called for legislative change to prevent any further requests from NFPs.
