Object to an assessment or decision
From 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2028, the ACT Revenue Office may apply an interest freeze on unpaid amounts that are under objection in certain circumstances. If you do not receive a decision on your objection within 6 months, you will not need to pay the additional interest accrued after this 6 month period.
The ACT Revenue Office may issue you an assessment or decision that you believe is incorrect. Under ACT law you have the following rights:
- Seek more information from the ACT Revenue Office about the assessment or decision.
- Object to the assessment or decision.
- Appeal an objection decision made by the ACT Revenue Office.
Seek more information about an assessment or decision
You can seek more information about an assessment or decision by writing to the Commissioner for ACT Revenue through our contact us form or by post.
There is a different process if you want to seek more information about a land valuation.
Lodge an objection
If you believe an assessment or decision is incorrect, you can lodge an objection. An objection is a written notice to the Commissioner challenging the assessment or decision. It is your responsibility to prove to the Commissioner that your objection should be upheld.
Your objection should:
- describe in detail why you believe the assessment or decision is incorrect
- include documents that support your case.
There is no fee to lodge an objection. We cannot refund any costs such as legal fees or valuers’ fees you may incur when making your objection.
If you lodge an objection, you must still pay any outstanding amounts while we consider your objection. If you do not pay, interest will accrue. If you are unable to pay, contact the ACT Revenue Office to help make alternative payment arrangements.
Object to a land valuation
If you believe your latest unimproved land valuation is incorrect, you can lodge an objection.
If you own a unit in a residential unit property, the objection must be lodged by the owner's corporation on behalf of all the unit owners.
Before you object
Before you object to a land valuation, make sure you understand how land is valued in the ACT.
If you own commercial, rural or residential unit land, you can request additional information about the sales considered when determining your property’s unimproved value. This may help you decide if you want to continue to object. You must make the request within 28 days of receiving your valuation notice. You can request additional information by writing to the Commissioner for ACT Revenue through our contact us form or by post.
Time limit for objecting to a land valuation
There is a 60-day time limit to object to a land valuation. This begins when you receive your valuation notice.
A different time limit applies for owners of commercial, rural or residential unit land who have requested additional information. The time limit to lodge an objection will begin 60 days from when you receive the additional information.
We cannot accept valuation objections after the time limit. You must wait until you receive your next annual valuation notice for the opportunity to object.
How to lodge a valuation objection
You can lodge a valuation objection by writing to the Commissioner for ACT Revenue through our contact us form or by post.
Object to other assessment notices or written decisions
If you believe an assessment notice or written decision is incorrect, you can lodge an objection.
You can lodge an objection by writing to the Commissioner for ACT Revenue through our contact us form or by post.
Time limit for objecting to other assessment notices or written decisions
There is a 60-day time limit to object to an assessment or decision. This begins when you receive your notice of assessment or written decision.
If you object to an assessment or decision after this period, you must explain why it is late.
Objection decisions
An independent officer will determine your objection. They will review your information, and any information used by the original decision maker. They may ask you for more information while they consider your objection.
The Commissioner will disallow, partly allow, or allow your objection. We will send you written notice of the objection decision.
If the Commissioner allows or partly allows your objection, we will adjust your accounts. This may lead to a refund on charges you have already paid.
The ACT Revenue Office aims to send your objection decision in six months. This might take longer if we need more information or if the objection is complex.
Appeal an objection decision
If you are not satisfied with an objection decision, you may have the right to appeal.
We will tell you about any right to appeal when we provide your objection decision. This includes whether you can apply for an external review with the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal (ACAT). You must apply within 28 days of the date of the objection decision.
There are fees for lodging an ACAT application. To learn more about the ACAT review process, go to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
How interest is charged while your objection is being considered
If you lodge an objection, you must still pay any outstanding amounts while we consider your objection.
If you do not pay, interest will accrue on the unpaid amount after the due date for payment.
Interest freeze on objections
From 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2028, the ACT Revenue Office may apply an interest freeze on unpaid amounts subject to an objection in certain circumstances. From 1 May 2026 if 6 months have passed from the date you lodged the objection and you have not yet received an objection decision , interest will be frozen on the unpaid amounts going forward.
Interest will then restart on unpaid amounts after the objection decision or 30 April 2028, whichever is earlier.
The interest freeze acknowledges that currently some objections may take longer than the standard timeframe to finalise.
Sam receives a land tax assessment notice which is due for payment 15 January 2026. The notice includes penalty tax and interest, as Sam did not notify the ACT Revenue Office that land tax applied on his vacant property.
Sam does not pay the assessed land tax, penalty tax and interest. Sam lodges an objection on 10 March 2026 to dispute the penalty tax and interest.
The ACT Revenue Office decides to deny Sam’s objection on 26 November 2026. This is longer than the 6-month objection decision period.
Sam must pay interest on the unpaid land tax amount (because it was not subject to objection). Sam must also pay interest on the unpaid penalty tax and assessed interest for the first 6 months that the objection was being considered, from 10 March 2026 to 9 September 2026. That is, interest applies for the period amounts are unpaid from after they were due until the objection is lodged, and then for the 6-month objection period.
Sam does not have to pay interest on the unpaid penalty tax and the assessed interest from 10 September 2026 to 26 November 2026. At that time the objection period was greater than 6 months up until the objection decision.
Additional interest will apply from 27 November 2026 if Sam does not pay the unpaid land tax, penalty tax and interest after the objection decision.
How the interest freeze is applied
When objecting to part of an assessment or decision
If you lodge an objection to part of an assessment or decision, we will only apply the interest freeze to the unpaid amount you have objected to.
We will still apply interest to any unpaid amounts not included in the objection while it is being considered.
When objecting to a land valuation
If you lodge an objection to the unimproved value of your property, the interest freeze will apply to any unpaid rates for the year of the valuation while the objection is being considered.
When the 6 month decision period is paused
The ACT Revenue Office aims to send your objection decision in 6 months. This might take longer if we need more information. In this situation we will pause the 6-month period until the requested information is provided. This will also affect how the interest freeze is applied.
Mei lodges an objection on 3 April 2026.
We ask Mei to provide more information on 17 June 2026. Mei provides the requested information on 18 August 2026. The 6 month period decision period was paused from 17 June to 18 August 2026 (approximately 2 months).
As a result, the interest freeze will start on 3 December 2026, approximately 8 months after Mei lodged the objection.
Interest accrued before 1 May 2026
If your objection was lodged more than 6 months ago, you will not need to pay any additional interest accrued after 1 May 2026 on the unpaid amount under objection, while we finalise the decision.
Taylor lodges an objection on 15 September 2025 to dispute an assessed tax amount that they do not pay but which was due on 5 September 2025.
Taylor’s objection is denied on 5 August 2026 and pays the outstanding amounts on the same day.
Taylor must pay the accrued interest on the unpaid amount for the period before 1 May 2026, which is 6 September 2025 to 30 April 2026.
The interest freeze applies to Taylor’s objection from 1 May 2026 to 5 August 2026. No additional interest needs to be paid for this period.
When the interest freeze does not apply
Objections outside the interest freeze period
The interest freeze does not apply:
- to objections decided before 1 May 2026
- if your objection is within the 6-month period on 30 April 2028 (for example, if you lodge your objection after 30 November 2027).
Interest accrued before 1 May 2026
If you lodge an objection before 1 May 2026, the interest freeze does not apply to interest that accrued on unpaid amounts under objection before this date.
Interest accrued after 30 April 2028
The interest freeze does not apply to interest that accrues on unpaid amounts under objection after 30 April 2028.
Arjun lodges an objection on 10 March 2027 to dispute an assessed amount payable by 30 March 2027.
The ACT Revenue Office decides to deny Arjun’s objection on 16 June 2028. Arjun pays outstanding amounts on 30 June 2028.
Arjun must pay interest on the unpaid amount during the first 6 months that his objection was being considered, from 31 March 2027 to 9 September 2027.
Arjun does not have to pay interest on the unpaid amount under objection from 10 September 2027 to 30 April 2028, as the interest freeze starts from 6 months after an objection has been lodged.
Arjun will pay interest from 1 May 2028 to 30 June 2028, as the interest freeze will no longer apply from 30 April 2028.
Interest applied outside the objection process
The interest freeze does not apply to interest applied outside of an objection, such as:
- interest assessed through a compliance investigation
- interest applied to unpaid amounts under a debt payment plan when no objection has been lodged.
How we will notify you about how the interest freeze applies to your objection
We will send you a written notice when your objection has been decided. The notice will include details of the interest freeze period that applies to your objection, if appropriate.
We will contact you separately if we need to make any adjustments to your account after we finalise your objection.