Many landlords, property owners and lessors, confronted with sharp increases in land tax bills this month, were reacting with "shock or disbelief", agents and lawyers said.

"In many cases they think there's a mistake," Teska Carson agent Barry Novy said.

If a property owner signed a 15-year lease with two 10-year options before the last land tax rise, they could be significantly out of pocket, he said.

"If that's the case, that property could effectively have limited, and, in some cases, possibly no income for a number of years," Mr Novy said.

Retail tenancy laws prohibit landlords from passing on land taxes to their tenants unless the business is a listed company.

A national ASX-listed supermarket chain which operates a store in Melbourne's south-east under a long lease has seen its bill rise from $167,625 last year to $261,788 this year.

In another case, an elderly 90-year-old woman who owns a Swanston Street shop and lives off the income with a full-time carer, has seen her most recent tax bill jump from $6095 to $40,950.

A Toorak rental property's bill rose from $16,915 to $31,725.

Land tax rates rise steeply once land values surpass $1.8 million. Sites valued under $250,000 do not attract tax and, unlike local council rates, land tax is not capped.

The Victorian government budget forecasts land tax revenue to rise a whopping 22 per cent this financial year to $2.225 billion.

Last year land tax contributed $1.734 billion to state coffers.

"Revenue is forecast to rise strongly as a result of the current revaluation process because property values have increased rapidly over the two years since the previous revaluation," the budget states.

Inner-city commercial property values rose more than most.

Melbourne, Port Phillip, Yarra, Stonnington, Bayside, Whitehorse, Manningham and Boroondara saw rises between 14 and 25 per cent.

"A large amount of this increase ... was due to mixed-use developments in high-density precincts," valuer general Robert Marsh said last year.

Tisher Liner FC Law's Jonathan Tisher said a range of factors could influence whether a property had been valued correctly.

Valuations sometimes failed to account for heritage or environmental issues that may affect the value of the land.

"It's really a question of being vigilant and taking prudent steps," he said.

Market participants predict a slew of sales as a result of the increases.

"I've been inundated with calls. There has been an increase in the number of people seriously looking at selling their properties as a result of land tax increases," Mr Tisher said.

Property owners had 60 days to object otherwise they were deemed to accept the new value, he said.

"The new land tax assessments have prompted many of our clients to consider selling as a major increase in these rates have made their property investments unviable," CBRE's Tom Tuxworth said.

"We met with one landlord who had multiple land holdings across Melbourne including within the CBD and Carlton who has been hit with a land tax bill that is 60 per cent higher than in previous years."

They were now weighing options and might look at divesting out of some assets to allow them to keep servicing their loans, he said.

A steep rise in land tax was problematic for anyone with a vacant shop not returning income, Colliers International retail director Cam Taranto said.

"If it's become an exorbitant cost, it's going to put the pressure on landlords," he said.

The Property Council said it would support a review to ensure a flatter and fairer land tax system that attracts investment and growth.

"Despite big increases in underlying land values over time, industry has not seen any meaningful relief in land tax, resulting in bracket creep," it said.