Foreign property owners slapped with fee for vacant property Australia has followed the international trend of penalising foreign owners of Australian residential property who keep their property vacant for extended periods of time. Last November Parliament approved legislation that imposes an annual vacancy fee on foreign owners of residential real estate if the property is not…
Generally, you do not pay CGT on the sale of your private home. A full exemption should be available if the following conditions are met: You are an individual who is selling a dwelling or an ownership interest in a dwelling; The dwelling has been your home for the entire ownership period; The dwelling has…
Why ‘property flipping’ is the next ATO target The tax law does not allow you to ‘flip’ a property tax-free even if you are living in it. Most people think that they can move into a property, renovate it, and then sell it without paying tax. The main residence exemption – the exemption that protects…
Legislation restricting access to the small business company tax rate reduction entered Parliament in October. The changes specifically preclude companies with passive investments such as rental property income from qualifying for the small business entity tax rate of 27.5%. For the 2017 income year a company could access the reduced company tax rate if it was…
The Tax Commissioner’s hit list Every so often the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) sends a ‘shot across the bow’ warning taxpayers where their gaze is focussed. Last month in a speech to the National Press Club, Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan did exactly that. Part of the reason for this public outing is the gap between…
What everyone selling a property valued at $750k or more needs to know Every vendor selling a property needs to prove that they are a resident of Australia for tax purposes unless they are happy for the purchaser to withhold a 12.5% withholding tax. From 1 July 2017, every individual selling a property with a…
Saving for a first home is hard. From 1 July 2018, the first home savers scheme will enable first-home buyers to save for a deposit inside their superannuation account, attracting the tax incentives and some of the earnings benefits of superannuation. Home savers can make voluntary concessional contributions (for example by salary sacrificing) or non-concessional…