Below is an overview of some of the taxes and levies associated with purchasing and selling property here in South Australia. Your conveyancer should be able to identify which will be applicable to your circumstances.
State Taxes and Levies
If you purchase property in South Australia you may be liable to pay certain state tax and levies including:
- Stamp duty
- Land tax
- Emergencies services levy
There is a good discussion of each of these taxes and charges on the RevenueSA website.
CLICK HERE to view.
Stamp Duty Calculator
To determine how much stamp duty you will be required to pay on a conveyancer use this Stamp Duty Calculator.
CLICK HERE to use.
Foreign Purchasers
Foreign persons (which includes natural persons and corporations) or foreign trusts that acquire an interest in residential land in South Australia are required to pay a foreign ownership surcharge (the “surcharge”) of 7% of the value of the interest in residential land.
For more information CLICK HERE.
Land Tax
Land tax is an annual tax that applies to all properties in South Australia. However, there are tax-free thresholds and exemptions that exclude properties from the tax.
If a property is resided in by the owner of the property as their principal place of residence the general rule is that this property will be exempt from land tax.
To find out more about land tax including applications for exemption the RevenueSA site has all the information you need.
CLICK HERE to view.
Foreign Residents Capital Gains Withholding Payments
Legislation enacting changes to foreign resident capital gains withholding (FRCGW) has now passed and will apply to contracts entered into on and after 1 January 2025.
Currently Australian residents must provide a clearance certificate to the purchaser at or before settlement to avoid having 12.5% withheld from a property sale where the value of the property is $750,000 or more.
Under the changes:
- the withholding rate will increase from 12.5% to 15%
- the $750,000 property value threshold will be removed and the withholding rules will apply to all property sales.
FRCGW is designed to support the collection of tax liabilities owed by non-residents selling Australian properties.
All Australian residents selling property will require a clearance certificate from the ATO, or withholding will apply to the transaction. If an Australian resident vendor does not provide a clearance certificate by settlement, 15% of the sale price will need to be withheld by the purchaser and paid to the ATO.
If an amount is withheld from the sale price, the vendor will only receive any refund due after their income tax return is processed at tax time.
Most clearance certificates will issue within a few days, but it’s important to apply early because some can take up to 28 days to issue. They are valid for 12 months so the vendor doesn’t need to wait until they have signed a contract.
Foreign resident vendors may be able to apply to vary the withholding rate.
GST at Settlement Measure
On or after 1 July 2018, certain purchasers of new residential premises or potential residential land will be required to withhold an amount from the price of the supply for payment to the Australian Taxation Office.
A vendor of property is required to notify purchasers before settlement whether or not they have withholding obligations. If there is, the vendor must notify the amount that must be withheld and paid to the ATO.
The amount a purchaser must pay is generally either:
- 1/11th of the contract price (for fully taxable supplies)
- 7% of the contract price (for margin scheme supplies), or
- 10% of GST exclusive market value of the supply (for supplies between associates for consideration less than GST inclusive market value).
For detailed information on this measure the ATO website has a large amount of information including a video, webinar and podcast.
CLICK HERE to view.
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