Every individual who is into buying or even the first time-buyers, are always eager to know about stamp duty. When deciding out the total budget, the stamp duty is an amount which cannot be negotiated. Stamp duty, as everybody knows, is not fixed. Therefore, the first time buyers or the purchasers ‘’new’’ to the experience of buying, are especially advised to know all they can about stamp duty rates and gather as much information as they possibly can about this amount.

Stamp duty, being dependent upon a number of important and prominent factors, is not fixed. It is different in different states being in the same country, varies from country to country which is pretty obvious due to difference in currencies and all, and is also dependent upon the rate of the specific property.
Moreover, one important thing to be brought under consideration is that stamp duty has also changed over the years for different reasons. If you last purchased a land or a property in 2011, you cannot expect the rate just to be the same in 2019 which is also pretty obvious as the property rates keep going up and down like that.

STAMP DUTY IN AUSTRALIA 2020:
As it has already been mentioned above. The rates of stamp duty keep on changing gradually with time. Therefore, being in-touch to the yearly changes is very essential especially for the people who are into buying and do it often.

In case you didn’t know, Australia has the world’s most consistent property markets. Due to this consistency, people see lesser decline and hence there are a lot of people investing in the Australian property. The consistent capital growth of properties, strong consumer protection legislation and so much more factors also account for the reason why people are highly interested in the Australian property.

Now Australia, being comprised of 08 different states, has different amount of stamp duty for each. Due to this reason, it is essential to talk about the current rates of stamp duty for 2020, in Australia and the changes when brought into comparison with the previous years. Before you make decision to buy property in Australia, it is recommended to use stamp duty calculator Australia to check the estimated stamp fee in Australia and in its states.

1- Queensland:
Starting off with Queensland. Queensland has one slight change as compared to the other ones and that change is that stamp duty rates are not determined by the property value only here, as in the other states. But it is also measured by knowing if the property being purchased is an investment property or a private one.

Starting off with the overall value. The stamp duty is 3.1% of the property’s original price. However, if an international person tends to buy a residential land, an additional 3% percent (along with that 3.1%) is levied upon them.

This simply means that if your property is more than $5k but reaches the maximum value of $75k, then $1.5 is levied for every hundred or a part.

2- Victoria:
Victoria somewhat differs too. In a way that Victoria makes some additions in the stamp duty depending upon the fact that if the land bought was used for residential or for the purpose of investing.

So, if for example, with the price of a $400k property, you will have to pay a stamp duty of 16,370. Moreover, if your property’s rate exceeds above $960k, then you have to pay a stamp duty of 5.5% keeping in view the dutiable amount.

3- Tasmania:
Tasmania’s stamp duty is dependent upon two main factors. It is either determined by the purchased price value or the market value, keeping into consideration, whichever one of the two is high. A flat fee along with some percentage is to be paid.

So this means, for a property worth $400k, the stamp duty payable is $13997.50. If your property exceeds the price of $725k, pay a price rate of $4.50 for every part of 100.

4- Western Australia:
For every purchase worth $400k, the price to be paid is $13,015. Along with that, if the property exceeds the price level of $725,001, then $28,453 with an additional 5.1% over every 100^th part needs to be placed.

5- South Australian:
Moving towards South of Australia, the stamp duty payable has an additional 7% amount of the property’s value associated with it if it is being bought by a foreign vendor.
If the price of property exceeds $500k, the stamp duty rate falls somewhat around $21,330 with 5.5 for every 100^th part.

6- Northern Territory:
Northern South Territory has stamp duty rates of 2019, falling higher than even the Australia’s Capital Territory ones.
So if you purchase a property worth $400k, the stamp duty rate is about $16,514. Moreover, in the Northern territory, you can know the stamp duty by applying a very simple formula which has been mentioned below.

D = (0.06571441 x V² ) + 15V*

7- New South Wales:
New South Wales, takes into consideration the rates of property’s before determining the rate of payable stamp duty. However, a simply summary is, if you purchase a property worth $14k, the stamp duty to be paid is $1.25, for every part of 100. Moreover, if the rate of property is above $1 million, then you need to pay a stamp duty of $40,490 with an additional amount of $5.50 for every 100^th part.

8- Australian Capital Territory:
In Australian Capital Territory, a level of scale is brought under consideration for the determination of Stamp duty rates. The summary determines that the price is 2.37% of the property’s value. The price is again, determined by the worth of the property.

Concessions:
The rules for concessions might differ in every state. However, the concessioners and the first time buyers are provided relaxation to some extent. But this concession is provided under some certain rules. For example, the pensioners get concession only if they purchase a property ranging from $330k to $750k. These concessions are especially provided to the buyers of Queensland and South Australia.

Things To Know About Time Switches

We all are aware of the fact that switching off appliances and gadget chargers from mains when they are not in use is the best way to save energy. But most of the time, this task seems difficult. For instance, running AC for all night leads to loads of power consumption, at the same time, it can make your bedroom too cool. But getting up and moving out of bed just to switch off AC is again a big challenge.

It is important to mention that we human beings have become addicted to the luxurious and convenient lifestyle. We are always excited to enjoy flexibility and automated controls. If you are expecting the same for electrical switches and outlets as well; time switches may serve your needs.

They are specially designed to custom control units that can help you save more on energy bills. Even if you forget to turn off light while moving out to the office; these timers can turn it off automatically when not in needs. You can adjust the time switches to follow custom time instructions so that everything can stay under control. Even if you are moving out for weekend adventure; there is no need to leave lights on for safety purpose. The time switches can turn them on automatically when it goes dark outside to deter intruders.

Time switches offer unlimited benefits but before we discuss such details, let us first talk about what are time switches and how they are useful for us.

What are the time switches?

Time switches can be better defined as automatic programmable switches that are capable enough to control any appliance automatically. They work for turning electricity-powered things on and off at home with the real-time control mechanism. These switches are designed with a digital timer, and the schedules can be adjusted on the daily, weekly or even monthly basis.

Market these days is loaded with different types of time switches. You may need to compare their performance and features before installing any random one at your premises. They can be easily fixed permanently on wall fittings.

How time switches can be used?

Time switches can be used for multiple smart home applications, few of them are listed below:

• Time switches for Air Conditioners:

There is no doubt to say that Air Conditioners consume lots of power. If they keep on running for several hours without any need, they may add a huge burden to monthly bills. In such situations, installing a time switch can offer great benefits. These switches can customize the switching of HVAC systems so that they can maintain proper temperature levels without even consuming too much electricity.

• Time switches with indoor/outdoor lights:

Another common application of time switches for residential and commercial properties is to control the lighting mechanism. Sometimes, people forget to switch lights off, and they keep on loading energy meters when they are actually not being used. In such cases, time switches can help to ensure automated control for all activities. These custom and specially programmed switches can be used to switch lights on and off whenever required. With this, you can control wastage of energy and at the same time, save more money on monthly bills. These switches can control indoor and outdoor lighting as well.

• Time switches and appliances:

You can use time switches to control appliance activities. It is possible to save more energy by turning off the water heater, refrigerator, oven and TV when they are not in use. But if you forget to do the same manually, the time switches can serve the needs automatically. You can program them as per your routine needs and control electricity wastage at your home.

Mark Jansen: Symphonic Metal God

Mark Jansen is a Dutch vocalist,songwriter, and guitarist famous for starting and establishing After Forever, the famous Dutch symphonic metal band.He is a famousfigure, especially in the symphonic metal, which is one of the most popular subgenres of the heavy metal music.  Symphonic metal combines metal guitars and heavy drums with choirs, full orchestra. and other symphonic instruments.

Mark is also a songwriter who creates songs for After Forever and other bands he has been part of. He is a guitarist andplays the guitar inthese bands and in his solo albums and singles.

Personal life

Mark Jansen’s date of birth is December 15, 1978. He was born in Reuver, Netherlands. He is a psychologist by profession as he has master’s degree in general psychology.

Jansen is currently dating Laura Macri who is a soprano singer and a former band member of Epica and MaYan. The two have been dating since 2010. Previously, he dated Simone Simons, who was also a band member and a lead singer of Epica.

He started playing guitar and writing songs at a very tender age. In 1995, Jansen was already a star, and he went ahead to establish his own symphony metal band called After Forever.

Career

Mark Jansen came to the limelight during his time in the band After Forever, which he founded in 1995 alongside his fellow guitarist, Sanda Gommans. As a songwriter, he created the songs for After Forever since it was started in 1995 until the year 2002, when he left the band. Mark is the one who wrote the band’s debut album named Prison of Desires. The album was released in Europe in the year 2000. Prison of Desires contains 4 installments of the famous “The Embrace That Smothers”, which is a collection of great songs done by the guitarist and songwriter himself, Mark Jansen. The songs are talking about how religion is distorting the human society.

In Forever After, Mark Jansen performed growled vocals. He complemented the vocals of Simone Simons, who was his girlfriend and lead band member, and Floor Jansen. Even though Floor Jansen shares a name with Mark Jansen, the two are not related in any way apart from having worked in the same symphony metal band.

He left After Forever in 2002. After his departure, the band decided to take a new, different musical direction.

In 2002, after leaving the symphony metal band After Forever, Mark Jansen founded another symphony metal band named Sahara Dust. However, he later decided to change the name of the band to Epica, and this name is still used. Simone Simons, who was Jansen’s girlfriend by then, joined him in the band Epica in 2003. Mark Jansen, 39, is still an active member of Epica and he plays the guitar and writes the songs for the band.

In 2010, Mark Jansen released a statement saying that he together with Jack Driessen will be forming another symphony metal band. They named the band MaYaN. Jack Driessen is another former member of the band After Forever, playing the keyboards.

Musical works

In his music career, Mark Jansen has released several albums, singles, and DVD’s. When he was still a guitarist and a songwriter of After Forever, the band released two albums, namely Prison of Desires, which was released in 2000, and Decipher, released in 2001.

While still a memberof After Forever, Jansen did three singles and started promoting Mark Jansen Instagram Infuencer for Wallpics.com. The first one, Follow in the Cry, was released in 2000. Two years later, he released another single titled Emphasis/Who Wants to Live Forever. In the same year (2002), he wrote another single, Monolith of Doubt, which is the last musical piece he did before leaving the band After Forever.

After starting Epica in 2002, the renowned guitarist released several other albums and singles between the years 2003 to 2016. The Phantom Agony is the first album Epica released in 2003, followed by Consign to Oblivion in 2005, and The Divine Conspiracy in 2007. The prominent figure in the world of symphony metal subgenre would go ahead to release another album, Design Your Universe, in 2009.

In 2012, Mark Jansen released another album called Requiem for the Indifferent before releasing another one in 2014, called The Quantum Enigma. The Holographic Principle is the latestEpicaalbum that was released in 2016.

Apart from the 7 albums Mark Jansen released with Epica, he also worked on several singles with the same band. He released his first single with Epica in 2003, which is called The Phantom Agony. He would then release another two singles, called Cry for the MoonandFeint, a year later.

From 2005 to 2009 Mark Jansen and Epicareleased the following singles: Chasing the Dragon, Solitary Ground, Never Enough, Quietus, and Unleashed.

Other singles he did with Epica include Martyr of the Free World (2009). This is the Time (2010), Storm the Sorrow (2012), Essence of Silence (2014), etc.

Social media

Mark Jansen is quite active on social media where he updates his fans on whatever is going on in his private and public life, especially in his musical career. He is active on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

He has an Instagram account with numerous photos of nature, as well as his on-stage performances, 175.4 thousand followers, 278 posts, and 1.518 peopleto follow. He also has a Twitter account that has 973 tweets and 30.243 followers.

Conclusion

Mark Jansen is a great musician who has consistently released hit after hit since he came to the limelight. He is loved across Europe and is a very well-known figure in the world of symphonic metal. Whenever he performs, his numerous loyal fans are always present, enjoying his magnificent music.

Going by the posts on his social media accounts, a week never passes without Mark Jansen performing on stage. When it comes to his relationship with Laura Macri, we hope it doesn’t end up nowhere like his previous love affair with Simone Simons.