Property lawyer accuses Victorian government of double dipping on stamp duty charges for house-and-land packages

A property lawyer has claimed the Victorian government was double dipping on stamp duty charges for house and land packages under recent changes to tax laws.

Previously, only homebuyers were charged stamp duty when they bought a house and land package in a new housing estate.

But they say changes to the Duties Act in June mean that builders are now also being charged for the same block of land when a building contract is signed.

Property lawyer Tony Raunic says the extra charge will be passed on to homebuyers.

"Inevitably they're the ones who are going to pick up the cost for the Government's double stamp duty," he said.

"The builders will pass this cost on to the homebuyers by way of the building contract costs.

"Ultimately, the cost flows onto the homebuyer, drives up the cost of homes on those outer fringes of Melbourne, or in the urban estates on the fringes of Melbourne and regional Victoria, and just makes it more expensive for people to get into housing."

Assistant Treasurer Gordon-Rich Phillips has told the ABC that it will only raise another $2 million a year.

"The vast majority of builders have been operating the way the law always intended, with respect to stamp duty, and have been paying stamp duty, this closes a loophole which was being exploited by a small number, so it's not a new charge," he said.

"This is giving effect to what was always the intention of the Duties Act, and that is that stamp duty is paid each time the land is sold, when it's sold by the developer and when it's sold by the builder, which has been the case in the vast majority of cases."