Investment Properties

This existing withholding tax assists the collection of foreign residents’ Australian tax liabilities. Where a foreign resident sells certain taxable Australian property, the purchaser is required to withhold an amount from the purchase price and pay that amount to the ATO (see our previous article on this topic). Australian residents selling real property will need to obtain a clearance certificate from... Read more

NSW Home Affordability Measures The NSW Government has announced a number of measures designed to improve housing affordability across NSW from 1 July 2017. Some of changes in the housing affordability package will affect foreign residents purchasing residential property in NSW. Stamp Duty Surcharge Increases: Foreign residents already pay a 4% surcharge on stamp duty. This will double to 8%.... Read more

            One taxation strategy is to prepay the interest on a loan for the next 12 months and claim a tax deduction in the current financial year. Prepaying interest is a way of bringing forward a tax saving that would have been claimed the next financial year. The maximum prepayment period allowed is 12 months The... Read more

Each year it is fascinating to observe how the Budget is received. Most commentators subjectively assess the Treasurer’s efforts by how they, or their interest group, is expected to be impacted. But is it possible to assess a budget more objectively? According to the stock market and rating agencies the Treasurer has done a reasonably good job. The ASX is... Read more

Low bank valuations are a real risk, particularly for buyers with smaller deposits, and especially in a booming market. Consider the following scenario. Hollie and Sam are preparing to buy a new home in their popular suburb. The house they want is for auction, and they expect it will sell for around $1.8 million. They’ve saved enough for a 20%... Read more

Core Logic RP Data recently published an article analysing Sydney’s property price premium. You can read the full article here and some key data from the article is below. Median House Prices Combined Capital Cities $600,000 Sydney $890,000 Melbourne $641,500 Brisbane $505,000 Adelaide $440,000 Perth $480,000 Hobart $349,500 Darwin $500,000 Canberra $625,000 The median house price in Sydney is 39%... Read more

By Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy & Chief Economist from Oliver’s Insights, AMP Capital, Edition 28 2016 Key points The mostly gloomy debate around the Australian economy often gives the impression we are in a constant state of crisis. But economic growth is pretty good, the economy has rebalanced without the (“inevitable”) recession, the worst of the mining bust... Read more

By Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy & Chief Economist from Oliver’s Insights, AMP Capital, Edition 26 2016 Key points Low and falling investment yields from most major asset classes point to a constrained medium term return outlook. For a diversified mix of assets, this has now fallen to around 6.9% on our projections. For investors the key is to:... Read more

NSW joins Queensland and Victoria in imposing specific taxes on foreign investment for residential property purchases. Additional land tax to be paid 0.75% from start of 2017 and additional 4% stamp duty from 21 June 2016. Foreign investors will no longer be entitled to the 12 month deferral for the payment of stamp duty for off-the-plan purchases of residential property.... Read more

A builder must take out job-specific insurance for home building work valued over $20,000, under the Home Building Compensation Fund (previously known as Home Warranty Insurance). If you are a home owner, check that a valid insurance certificate has been obtained for the work you want done. Do this before work starts and before paying any money. Without it, you... Read more