• Effective 1 July 2017 Foreign Resident Capital Gains Withholding for the Sale of Property now applies to Australian Residents.
  
  Effective 1 July 2017 all sales of property at $750,000, the Buyer must obtain from each Vendor/Seller a Clearance Certificate or Variation Notice issued by the ATO. However if one is not given 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 or variation notice to be provided or the buyer to retain 12.5% of the purchase price and forwarded this to the ATO. To avoid causing delays to settlement, it is recommended that Sellers obtain a Clearance Certificate or Variation Notice 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 these can be requested/submitted online.as is recommended by the ATO as this will result in quicker processing by them.
• Effective 1 July 2016 the requirement for the sale of properties $2 million and oversold new laws, which come into effect will require all Sellers of properties with a market value of more than $2 million to prove they are Australian.Without proof of citizenship, known as a Clearance Certificate, the legislation will see Purchasers act as tax collectors, sending 10% per cent of the purchase price to the ATO.
• Effective approximately mid 2017 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of other instruments affecting the lot or an interest in the lot until the notice lapses after 60 days or is withdrawn, removed or cancelled.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 2017 Land Title Registry fees increased
  
• The Queensland First Home Owner Grant Act 2000 is amended to:increase the amount of the 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.
  
• Effective 1 July 2016 Purchasing property at $2 million and over from an overseas non resident or Australian non resident i.e. overseas seller, the Buyer is required to deduct 10% withholding amount for ATO.
• Effective 30 Nov 2015 - County and Parish to be removed from registry forms (New forms now available).