Foreign purchaser surcharge

The foreign purchaser surcharge is an additional amount of transfer duty charged to foreign purchasers of residential property in most Australian states and territories, applied on top of standard transfer duty and calculated as a percentage of the property's value. Rates and the definition of a "foreign purchaser" vary by state, and can also apply to Australian entities with foreign ownership above a specified threshold, which is a detail worth confirming with a conveyancer or lawyer given how the definitions differ across jurisdictions.⚠ For a foreign investor budgeting a purchase, the surcharge is a material line item alongside standard duty and should be factored into total acquisition costs from the outset rather than discovered at settlement. Lenders financing foreign investors generally expect this cost to be accounted for in the borrower's funds-to-complete calculation, alongside standard duty, legal costs and any FIRB-related fees.

Related

Foreign investor loans · FIRB · Transfer duty