Assessed Annual Value Tasmania: How Property Rates Are Calculated

When your Tasmanian rates notice arrives and the bill is higher than last year, the usual culprit is a change in your property's assessed annual value. Understanding how that number works explains both why your rates change and what the pensioner remission actually covers.

What Is the Assessed Annual Value?

The assessed annual value (AAV) is an estimate of the annual rental income your property would earn on the open market. It's set by the Office of the Valuer-General under the Valuation of Land Act 2001 and updated on a rolling cycle across Tasmania's municipalities.

Your council uses the AAV to calculate your general rates. The formula is typically:

General Rate = AAV × Rate in the Dollar

Each council sets its own "rate in the dollar" during its annual budget process. When the Valuer-General revalues properties in your area, the AAV changes — and so does your rates bill, even if the rate in the dollar stays the same.

What Your Rates Notice Includes

A typical Tasmanian rates notice itemises:

• General rates — calculated from your AAV
• General municipal charges — included when billed on the rates notice
• Waste management charge — usually a flat fee per property
• Stormwater levy — for properties in serviced areas
• State Fire Commission levy — collected by the council on behalf of the Tasmania Fire Service

All of these except the fire levy are eligible for the 30% pensioner rates remission. The fire levy gets its own 20% pensioner rebate.

Late payment penalties, legal recovery costs, and interest charges are excluded from the remission calculation.

How the Remission Interacts with Your AAV

The pensioner remission is 30% of your eligible rates, capped at $401 (TasWater areas) or $591 (non-TasWater areas). A higher AAV means a bigger rates bill — but the cap limits how much the remission can save you.

If your AAV pushes your eligible rates above roughly $1,337 (TasWater) or $1,970 (non-TasWater), you'll hit the cap and the remission won't cover the full 30%. Below those thresholds, you get the entire 30%.

If Your Valuation Seems Wrong

The Valuer-General's assessment is separate from the pensioner remission. If you believe your AAV is too high, you can object to the valuation directly — the owner must lodge the objection with the Valuer-General in the approved form within 60 days after receiving the valuation notice. This is a free process handled through the Office of the Valuer-General, not your council. Reducing your AAV reduces your base rates bill, and the pensioner remission then applies on top of the lower figure.

For worksheets that calculate your exact remission based on your rates notice breakdown, see our Tasmania Pensioner Rates Remission guide.

See more Tasmania guides →