Foreign investment in residential real estate – current activities
During 2023, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has completed over 40 stakeholder engagement sessions on the new Register of foreign ownership of Australian assets and Online services for foreign investors, the online platform for all ATO interactions regarding foreign investment matters. Further sessions can be scheduled for 2024 by contacting the secretariat.
Register of foreign ownership of Australian assets
The 2022 reports from the registers of foreign ownership of water entitlements and agricultural land; the insights into foreign purchases and sales of residential real estate have been published. These reports are available on Treasurys website at Foreign investment in AustraliaExternal Link.
The first report on the new Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets (the Register) will cover the period ending 30 June 2024. The ATO is required to give the Treasurer an annual report using de-identified statistical information from the Register for presentation to Parliament.
The ATO is committed to leading practice in data management. The ATO undertook a Privacy Impact Assessment in relation to the Register, as required by the Privacy Code and a register of all privacy impact assessments is published.
Online services for foreign investors
Since deployment on 26 June 2023, system availability for Online services for foreign investors has been consistently high.
Compared to the prior year, there has been an increase in residential application received during August to October. This demonstrates clients have been interacting with Online services for foreign investors and are able to comply with their obligations.
Clients have reported once registered; their digital interaction is seamless indicating the system design is effective and overall is working as it should.
ATO staff continue to provide support and change reinforcement with clients and intermediaries, providing one-on-one support where necessary.
The ATO is committed to providing support to clients and intermediaries using the service. We continuously review ato.gov.au content and consider how best to assist investors in meeting their obligations. Feedback from members is welcomed.
The ATO recently published a recorded webinar explaining how non-individual foreign investor entities (companies and trusts) and their representatives access Online services for foreign investors. The webinar also covers completing one-off registration, authorising others to act on your behalf and how to register an asset. The webinar is available on ato.tvExternal Link.
Question taken on notice at last meeting
A response was provided to the following question that was asked at the Foreign Investment Stakeholder Group meeting on 20 July 2023.
How to provide a register notice for the acquisition of securities in a land entity where the acquisition of the securities itself is not a registrable circumstance?
Where this has occurred, the register notice within Online services for foreign investors should be completed in the same way as if the acquisition of securities in the relevant land entity was in fact registrable, with the addition of a final step as follows.
- An investor should select “Register a business interest” and complete the relevant details of the securities acquisition.
- In the Relevant Information free text box at the end of the registration form, the client can write 'Acquisition of an interest in land'.