Foreign Investor Surcharge on Stamp Duty and Land Tax

The NSW state budget is set to bring about some new changes for foreign investors, including surcharges on stamp duty and land tax for residential real estate.

The NSW Treasurer has announced the following changes:

• A 4% stamp duty surcharge on all purchases of residential real estate by foreign purchasers, to commence on budget day, 21 June 2016.
• A 0.75% land tax surcharge on residential real estate owned by foreign persons, commencing in the 2017 land tax year;
• Foreign investors will also no longer have a 12 month deferral period for the payment of stamp duty for off-the-plan purchases of residential property.

**Victoria is also introducing a 7% foreign investor surcharge on residential stamp duty and a 1.5% surcharge on some land tax.

The treasurer expects to raise more than $1 billion over 4 years to fund essential services across NSW.

More information on the changes can be found on the NSW Office of State Revenue web page.

Maged Jebeile

Surry Partners

02 93186418