Land tax foreign owner surcharge:
You may be liable for land tax surcharge in NSW if you are considered a foreign person.
What is foreign owner surcharge?
If you are a foreign person who owns residential land in NSW, you must pay surcharge land tax in addition to any land tax you may already pay. You may be required to pay surcharge even if you do not pay land tax.
You are generally considered a foreign person, unless:
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you are an Australian citizen, or
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you have lived in Australia for 200 days or more in the 12 months prior to the taxing date of 31 December, and you are a permanent resident of Australia.
Due to international tax agreements entered into by the Federal Government, you will not have to pay foreign owner surcharge if you are a citizen of New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Finland, Japan, Norway, India or Switzerland. Find out more at international tax treaties.
You must pay surcharge on the taxable value of all residential land that you own as at 31 December each year. There is no tax-free threshold applicable to surcharge.
The surcharge rate is:
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0.75 per cent from the 2017 land tax year, and
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two per cent from the 2018 land tax year onwards
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four per cent from the 2023 land tax year onwards.
Surcharge is assessed in relation to each parcel of residential land and is proportional to ownership.
There are no joint assessments and secondary deductions do not apply.
Surcharge Intended Principal Place of Residence
The following visa holders will be exempt from surcharge land tax on their principal place of residence if they use or intend to use and occupy their home for a continuous period of 200 days in a land tax year:
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permanent visa holders
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partner (provisional) visa holders (subclass 309 or 820)
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holders of retirement visas (subclass 410 and 405).
Dates to remember:
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You must apply for the exemption by 31 March in the relevant tax year.
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This principal place of residence exemption only takes effect from the 2018 year.
For more details, please visit NSW Government Revenue website:
https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes-duties-levies-royalties/transfer-duty/surcharge-purchaser-duty and https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/taxes-duties-levies-royalties/land-tax/foreign-owner-surcharge