When to pay a fee
You must pay a fee when:
- applying for approval to purchase a residential property or for an exemption certificate
- applying to vary (make changes to) your existing approval
- lodging your vacancy fee return – if a fee is payable.
There are very limited circumstances where we grant a fee waiver or remission.
How much is the fee
Your application fee is generally based on the value of the property you intend to buy.
Fees for property developers applying for a New or near-new dwelling exemption certificate are different to residential property application fees.
Types of residential fees
Variation application fees
You must pay a fee to apply to vary an existing foreign investment approval.
For 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025, the fee is:
- $4,300 for a simple variation (considered immaterial or minor)
- $29,500 for a complex variation (not of an immaterial or minor nature).
We will cap your fee where you are seeking to vary an application notice and you originally paid a lower fee. For example, if you requested a complex variation in May 2023 for an approval where you originally paid a $13,200 fee, the variation fee is capped at $13,200.
Tenants in common share of fees
If you are purchasing the property as tenants in common, the fee payable for the interest is equal to your percentage of ownership in the property.
Example: tenants in common
Sara is a foreign person and she is purchasing an Australian property with another investor as tenants in common.
On 1 May 2023, she applies for residential approval to purchase 25% of a $1.5 million property with the other investor.
The application fee for a $1.5 million property is $26,400. When Sara submits her application, she needs to pay $6,600 which is 25% of the total fee for the property.
End of exampleAnnual vacancy fee
You pay a vacancy fee if:
- your property is vacant for 183 days (6 months) or more in a vacancy year
- you fail to lodge your annual vacancy fee return on time.
For vacancy years starting 9 April 2024 the fee will be double your foreign investment application fee.
Fees are calculated when you lodge your vacancy fee return.
Example: working out your vacancy fee
Rishi is a foreign person looking to buy a newly developed apartment in the Sydney area for under $2 million. He applies for approval for a residential property exemption certificate for a new property in April 2024 and pays the $28,200 application fee.
Rishi's application is approved and he has 12 months to purchase a newly developed apartment. On 2 November 2024 he completes settlement on a newly developed apartment and makes it available for rent.
Rishi's vacancy year will end on 1 November each year. He will need to lodge a vacancy fee return by 1 December 2025. If the apartment was unoccupied and not available to rent for more than 183 days (6 months), he will pay a vacancy fee of $56,400. This is twice the fee he paid for the exemption certificate application.
End of example
Application fee for property developers
Property developers applying for a New or near-new dwelling exemption certificate must pay an initial application fee of $60,600 for 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025.
As a developer you are then required to report the sales of new or near-new dwellings every 6 months. A separate fee per sale will be payable for each dwelling sold to a foreign person under the certificate.
Fees are updated once a year
Fees for foreign investment applications are indexed each financial year on 1 July. The information on this page is correct at the time of publishing.
For more information, see the fee guidance note (PDF, 942KB)This link will download a file.