Victorian foreign purchaser tax: retirement village exemption secured

Retirement villages have been exempted from new laws in Victoria that introduce a foreign purchaser surcharge on property acquisitions, as a result of extensive Property Council advocacy.

The amendments to the State Taxation and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2016 excise commercial residential premises from the definition of ‘residential property’ for the foreign purchaser surcharge.

This means that retirement villages, residential care villages and supported residential services like will not be captured by the duties surcharge. The exemption also covers hotels, motels, serviced apartments and student accommodation.

Governments in New South Wales and Queensland have also recently introduced their own versions of the foreign purchaser surcharge in their recently delivered State Budgets.

The Property Council is currently seeking clarification on how those surcharges will affect the retirement living sector and is working to ensure the potential side effects are eliminated or minimised.