The Property Council has welcomed the delivery of the Federal Government's billion dollar Tax Breaks for Green Buildings scheme.
However, the scheme should be redesigned to allow more building owners to take advantage of the Scheme.
The Property Council recommends the Australian Government:
- modify its tax breaks scheme to allow the incentive to be taken either as a tax credit or a deduction;
- base eligibility on a standard environmental performance metric, preferably GHG emissions abated (kg Co2-e/sqm/pa) or energy efficiency achieved (MJ/sqm/pa), that equates to a two star NABERS uplift;
- extend the scheme beyond offices, shopping centres and hotels;
- allocate the tax incentive on an entitlement basis;
- assign dedicated funding pools for specific building types via four annual funding rounds; and,
- determine specific caps of ‘rebatable’ construction spending on a square metre basis by locale and building type.
