If you are buying residential property from a seller who is not an Australian tax resident, you must withhold part of the purchase price and pay it to the Australian Taxation Office instead of to the seller.

For contracts signed on or after 1 January 2025 the rate is 15% of the price and it applies to every property regardless of value. For contracts signed before that date the rate was 12.5% and it applied only to property worth $750,000 or more.

If you are selling, you avoid that by giving us a foreign resident capital gains withholding clearance certificate from the ATO. Every individual and company named on the title needs its own certificate.

Apply online at the ATO’s website and send us a copy as soon as you have it. Certificates can take several weeks to issue, so apply when you list rather than when you settle.

If you don’t provide a clearance certificate, the buyer must withhold and remit the amount to the ATO regardless of your tax or residency status. See legal advice if you’re not sure which applies to you.