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Effective 1 July 2017 Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding for the Sale of Property

Effective 1 July 2017 all sales of property at $750,000, the Buyer must obtain from the Seller a Clearance Certificate issued by the ATO. However if one is not give to the Buyer or if the Seller is a foreign resident (as indicated in the contract) the Buyer must at settlement retain 12.5% (increased from the 10% previously required) of the purchase price and forward this to the ATO. Due to the lower threshold as of the 1 July 2017 many more property transactions will be caught up in the process of of either requiring the ATO clearance certificate to be provided or the buyer to retain 12.5% of the purchase price and for this to be forwarded to the ATO. To avoid causing delays to settlement, it is recommended that Sellers obtain a Clearance Certificate from the ATO prior to listing a property for sale or as soon as possible where the sale price or at auction sale price will be $750,000 or more. Clearance Certificates are to be valid for 12 months from when issued by the ATO and a request can be submitted or form obtained via the following link. https://www.ato.gov.au/Forms/Foreign-resident-capital-gains-withholding-clearance-certificate-application-instructions/
It is recommended that applications for a Clearance Certificate be lodged online as the ATO advise that this will result in quicker processing of the application compared to submitting the forms manually

Effective approximately mid 2017 the Land Titles Office advises:

The current settlement notice mechanism under the Act will be replaced by a priority notice mechanism. While the fundamental purpose of the new priority notice will be the same as the current settlement notice, there are a number of minor changes, including application to a wider range of instruments and the ability to extend the notice for 30 days. A priority notice will identify each instrument to which the notice relates and with a few exceptions, the deposit of a priority notice will prevent registration of other instruments affecting the lot or an interest in the lot until the notice lapses after 60 days or is withdrawn, removed or cancelled.

Effective 1 July 2016 the following 2016–17 State Budget measures are applicable:
                The First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 is amended to:
                 -          increase the amount of the Queensland First Home Owners’ Grant from
                            $15,000 to $20,000 for eligible transactions entered into between 1 July 2016
                            and 30 June 2017, both dates inclusive.
                The Duties Act 2001 is amended to:
                 -          extend the transfer duty concession for intergenerational transfers of
                            family primary production businesses by removing the requirement that the
                            transaction be by way of gift, from 1 July 2016
                 -          impose 3% additional foreign acquirer duty, from 1 October 2016.Effective 1 July 2016 revised Effective 1 July 2016 Land Title Registry Fees increased, refer this link > DNRM
Effective 30 Nov 2015 - County and Parish to be removed from registry forms and these fields on existing forms can simply be left blank.
Titles Registry Alert 29/01/2016 re Electronic conveyancing witnessing requirements

Sections 11A of the Land Title Act 1994 and 288A of the Land Act 1994 place an onus on mortgagees to confirm the identity of mortgagors prior to lodging any mortgage for registration by taking ‘reasonable steps’ to ensure that the person who is the mortgagor under the instrument is identical with the person who is, or who is about to become, the registered owner of the lot or holder of the interest being mortgaged.

Similar provisions apply to transfers of mortgages under sections 11B of the Land Title Act 1994 and 288B of the Land Act 1994.

Under sections 11A(3) and 11B(3) of the Land Title Act 1994 and sections 288A(3) and 288B(3) of the Land Act 1994 a mortgagee or mortgage transferee takes reasonable steps if they comply with practices included in the Land Title Practice Manual for the verification of identification of mortgagors.

In consultation with key industry stakeholders the Registrar of Titles has revised the existing practice guidelines to align those practices with the obligations for financial institutions and other subscribers who undertake land tilting transactions electronically under the Queensland Participation Rules determined under the Electronic Conveyancing National Law (Queensland) (available online at https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/titles-property-construction/titles-property/electronic-lodgement-conveyancing/national).

The revised practice guidelines also implement the recent recommendation of the Queensland Organised Crime Commission of Inquiry that the Land Title Practice Manual include a requirement for visual (face-to-face) verification of identity before a mortgagee or mortgage transferee is deemed to have taken ‘reasonable steps’ under sections 11A and 11B of the Land Title Act 1994.

The revised practice guidelines will take effect from 1 March 2016 and are currently available online at https://www.business.qld.gov.au/industry/titles-property-construction/titles-property/practice-manual.

For mortgagees who, before 1 March 2016, have followed the previous practice guidelines in relation to a mortgage, these revised practice guidelines do not require any further action to be taken before lodging that mortgage. This is the case whether the relevant mortgage is lodged before or after 1 March 2016.Removal of Parish and County from Registry Forms 30 Nov 2015.
Note: Existing forms accepted until further notice and these fields can be left blank after 1 Dec 2015.

The Department of Natural Resources and Mines will be removing references to Parishes and Counties in land transactions, as this information is redundant for the unique identification of land. This will affect forms submitted to the department, and some products and datasets obtained from the department e.g. title searches.

While the formal date for this removal is 30 November 2015, it may take some time for the changes to be applied to all products and services. In the interim, these products will either show the value ‘no longer used’ for Parish and County or reference to Parish and County will be removed.

All Titles Registry forms that currently make reference to the Parish and County will be updated to remove this information. An additional Titles Registry Alert in relation to the amendments to the forms will be distributed in the near future.

The continued use of the current forms will be permitted until further notice; but as of 1 December 2015 the Parish and County fields can be left blank.

1 December 2015, Increases in some fees/costs from DNRM to round off amounts, i.e. Registration fee from $168.60 to $169.00 and items at $31.80 to $32.00

1 October 2015, Increased fees/costs from DNRM, OSR, and other search providers for the 2015-2016 period
The Department of Natural Resources and Office of State Revenue and most search providers have increased their prices effective 1/8/2015 for the 2015-2016 period

1 December 2014, Changes to the standard Contracts to take place

Appointment Period
The maximum term of appointment for sole or exclusive agency will change from 60 days to 90 days. However appointments that are for 90 days may be terminated after 60 days. The law will be clarified so that either party may end an open listing at any time by giving written notice.

New Forms
Form 6 replaces the Form 27C Appointment of an Agent
Form 7 Disclosure by the Agent to the Seller
Form 8 Disclosure by the Agent to the Buyer (agents commission from the seller no longer shown)

Disclosure of Commission to Buyer

Removing the requirement for agents to disclose to a buyer the commission the agent is receiving from the seller.

Warning Statements Forms and Cooling off Period (PAMD Form 30C and BCCM 14) NO LONGER USED.

The previously separate Warning Statement has now been included into the relevant contracts for House and Land and Units.
All current versions of contracts now included/incorporated into the contract the warning statement just above where the Buyer and Seller sign the contract as per the example wording below.

The contract may be subject to a 5 business day statutory cooling-off period. A termination penalty of 0.25% of the purchase price applies if the buyer terminates the contract during the statutory cooling-off period. It is recommended the buyer obtain an independent property valuation and independent legal advice about the contract and his or her cooling-off rights, before signing.

Waiving the Cooling Off Period

You no longer need a certificate from a solicitor to waive the cooling off period.
A buyer simply needs to give a notice to the seller in writing before they sign a contract stating that they are waiving the cooling off period.

Most Search costs increase as of the 1 July each year:

2 June 2014, Titles Registry fees increase for 2014 - 2015 as per Summary List
Note: The updated desktop fee calculator for the new fees will be available from 1 July. Fee Calculator

24 May 2013, Titles Registry alert 113, revised Titles Registry Forms now available

12 September 2012 First Home owners Grant now $15,000 but only for new homes up to a value of $750,000 for;

- contracts to buy a new home (including off the plan) dated on or after 12 Sep 2012
- contracts to build a new home dated on or after 12 Sept 2012
- new homes being built by an owner builder where the date the foundations start is on or after 12 Sept 2012.

Duty: The FHO duty concession remains unchanged, i.e. a first home up to $550,000.00 nil duty payable

24 August 2012, Office of State Revenue change to counter services
- Counter services will no longer be available. For information (www.osr.qld.gov.au or call 1300 300 734)
- All document lodgement and payments are to be made electronically or by post.
- Documents for assessment must be posted to: Office of State Revenue, GPO Box 2593, Brisbane Qld 4001
- Land Tax Clearances can be obtained electronically or by Post.
Note: It is recommended that you do not send/post documents to the Office of State Revenue as they require that the Form 1 Transfer be signed by the seller with the following problems:
1. The Office of State Revenue will not stamp the transfer unless it is signed by the seller, but will hold your contract pending the supply to them of the fully signed transfer document.
2. The sellers solicitor will not normally give these back to you after their client has signed the transfer

Contact us before sending transfer documents to the sellers solicitor and we will explain how you may avoid this problem.

1 July 2012, Principal Place of Residence Concession:
The concession for buyers purchasing a property as their principal place of residence has been reintroduced which results in a duty rate of 1% up to a value of $350,000.00 with higher values resulting in higher duty amount payable.

When an alteration or minor correction is required to a Land Registry Form i.e. to make alteration or correct minor errors or omissions, it is now required that a Form 20 providing details of the alteration or minor correction be attached to the Form being altered or corrected.

27 June 2012, Sustainability Declaration no longer required:
The Queensland Government repealed the legislation and a sustainability declaration is no longer required to be provided by the Seller to the Buyer when selling a house, townhouse or unit in Queensland.

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