CGT foreign resident withholding on taxable Australian property

From 1 July 2016, Australian residents who are selling taxable Australian property with a market value of $2 million or more need to obtain a clearance certificate from the ATO, to ensure that CGT foreign resident withholding of 10 per cent does not need to be withheld from the transaction.

The form is available to download, and there is no fee for clearance certificate applications. A clearance certificate is valid for 12 months from issue, and must be valid at the time it is made available to the buyer.

Where an application is submitted online, most certificates will be issued electronically within a few days. Paper applications may take up to two to four weeks to process.