Our property law and real estate team boasts the rare credential of conducting property transactions with expertise nationwide, not just in our home state of New South Wales.
We pride ourselves on being a “one-stop-shop” for our clients looking to sell, buy, develop or lease real property assets across Australia.
This means that we are required to keep up to date with important amendments to the laws and regulations that govern property transactions in each state.
Therefore, we have prepared this guide to recent or upcoming changes that are vital to note to those in the property industry across Australia.
Victoria (VIC)
- No Land Tax Adjustments:
Purchasers are no longer required to adjust for the land tax on settlement. Historically, the vendor’s land tax would be adjusted on settlement together with outgoings such as council and water rates.
However, this is not permitted from 1 January 2024 for contracts under $10 million.
- No Stamp Duty on Commercial/Industrial Properties:
Stamp duty on commercial and industrial properties will be abolished from 1 July 2024 onwards and replaced by an annual property tax. Although the full details are not yet available, recent updates suggest that the first party to transact on a commercial or industrial property after 1 July 2024 will be the last party to pay stamp duty on that property.
Moving forward an annual tax of 1% of the land value, commencing 10 years after settlement, will be payable to the state government.
Queensland (QLD)
- New Seller Disclosure Obligations
Once Parliament proclaims the formal commencement date of this overhaul (as the legislation has been passed in 2023), sellers of all property types in QLD will be required to provide disclosure statements in an approved form, and prescribed documents to buyers before exchange. Historically, there were very minimal disclosure obligations for sellers in QLD.
These disclosure statements and certificates will set out important information regarding the property, such as title details, planning information and financial particulars.
Failure to provide this may allow the buyer to terminate the contract before settlement.
Australia Wide
- Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding: No Threshold and Higher Withholding Rate
For contracts dated from 1 January 2025 onwards, all vendors in Australia are required to provide a clearance certificate to the purchaser, demonstrating that they are not foreign, irrespective of the value of the property. Previously, this only applied where the property value was $750,000.00 or more.
If the clearance certificate is not provided, from 1 January 2025, the purchaser must remit 15% of the property value to the ATO on settlement, instead of the previous 12.5%.
Summary
Although not all of these changes and/or relevant legislation finalised or in effect as at the date of this article, it is very important to keep an eye on these moving forward as they may be subject to change before their scheduled implementation date.
We will continue to provide updates as the relevant changes are finalised and brought into effect.
Contact
Should you wish to discuss the content of this article or to see if we can be of assistance to you, please do not hesitate to contact our Property Lawyers.
Important Disclaimer: The content of this article is general in nature and for reference purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Legal advice about your specific circumstances should always be obtained before taking any action based on this publication
