The 2017 Australian Federal Budget announced that the exemption from tax on capital gains on a person’s main residence would no longer be available for residences sold after the owner had become a foreign resident. This change, as drafted in Treasury Laws Amendment (Reducing Pressure on Housing Affordability Measures No. 2) Bill 2018, would apply to the whole ownership, without pro-rating an exemption for the period of occupancy. Given the large increases in much Australian residential property, large taxable gains are likely for many.

Under the bill, the exemption remains in place if an expat resumes tax residency prior sale of the property and provides transitional provisions to enable existing foreign-resident owners to sell before 30 June 2019 without losing the exemption. However, whether this change will become law is unknown as the bill has remained before the Senate since March 2018.

Progress of this bill would be welcomed to provide certainty for those currently non-resident who may wish to sell their former homes before mid-2019 but would not do so if this bill does not proceed.