FIRB Application Guideline

Foreign Investment System

The full name of FIRB is FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, the Overseas Investment Review Board.

If you are confirmed to be a “foreigner” and intend to invest in Australian residential real estate, under the Australian Overseas Investment System, you will need to fulfill the following multiple obligations:

01 Application for FIRB approval letter

• • Number and names of applicants If more than two peoples apply together, please confirm the method of joint purchase and the proportion held by each applicant.

• • Type of property purchased Buy established house, off the plan properties or vacant land.

• • Purchased property value
    Note: FIRB application fee must be paid in time after submitting the application. The application fees to be paid vary according to the value of the property purchased. The current application fees are as follows:
     

    Purchase Price	Application Fee
    $0 – $1,000,000	$5,700
    $1,000,001 – $1,999,999	$11,500
    $2,000,000 – $2,999,999	$23,100
    $3,000,000 -$3,999,000	$34,600
    $4,000,000 – $4,999,999	$46,200
    $5,000,000 – $5,999,999	$57,700
    $6,000,000 – $6,999,999	$69,300
    $7,000,000 – $7,999,999	$80,900
    $8,000,000 – $8,999,999	$92,600
    $9,000,000 – $9,999,999	$104,100

It is recommended that you carefully confirm whether the information filled in is correct before submitting the application. If you find that the application information is incorrect after submission, it may lead to delay in approval and incur additional amendment fees.

02 Comply with FIRB approval conditions

After submitting the FIRB application, you will usually receive a FIRB approval letter within 30 days. The approval letter will list the conditions that the applicant must comply with when purchasing the property and after settlement, such as the price of the property that can be purchased, whether it can be rented, the number of years to complete the construction, and so on.

If you do not comply with the conditions for approval, you may be subject to corresponding fines, civil penalties, or criminal prosecution.

If after approval, you need to modify the relevant approval conditions, you need to apply for modification to the FIRB review department before the approval expires, each modification will incur an additional fee, generally $5,200 per time, but not all the conditions change application will be approved, and the relevant department will make the discretion according to the actual situation.

03 Land and water registration

According to FIRB approval conditions, you must register the property you purchased on the ATO Land and Water Register within 30 days of closing. This step can be completed by your friends or ask your lawyer to register for you (additional legal cost may incur).

After registering, you will receive an ATO land registration number, please keep this registration number in a safe place, because you will need to use this number to complete when submitting the vacancy fee declaration form.

Please go to the following website to complete the registration:

https://www.ato.gov.au/general/foreign-investment-in-australia/start-your-registration/

04 Submit vacancy fee declaration form

If you have property on the land you purchased, you must submit an annual vacancy fee return within 30 days of the end of each vacancy year within the ownership period.

The vacancy year is 12 months period from the date you first have the right to live (“Date of Entry”). If you are buying a established property or a new house that has been completed, your entry date is the property settlement date. In the event that you purchased a vacant land and new houses to be built, the entry day is the day after the house is built and the occupancy permit is issued.

In the vacancy fee declaration form, you need to tell the ATO how the home has been used in the past 12 months. After submitting the vacancy fee declaration form, ATO will decide whether you need to pay any amount of vacancy fee based on your declaration information and tell you how to pay the vacancy fee.

Normally, ATO will send you a reminder letter via e-mail at the time of registration, so that you can submit a vacancy fee declaration form in time when it expires. However, even if your mailbox does not receive an ATO notification, you must actively submit a vacancy fee declaration form.

Please go to

www.ato.gov.au/vacancyfeereturns  to submit your vacancy fee return.

If your personal information changes after registration, please ensure that you notify ATO in time so that the relevant department can get in touch with you in time.

There are several ways to update personal information:

• • Fill out the electronic form
    Please go to www.ato.gov.au/FIRBUpdateEmail fill out the FIRB update email form to update your email address.

• • E-mail notification
    You can email to [email protected] and quote your ATO land registration number to describe changes in your personal situation.

• • Contacting via phone
    Contact ATO by phone:1800 050 377 (within Australia)
    +61 2 6216 1111 (outside Australia)Note: For those who are worried about language communication, they can contact ATO through Translating and Interpreting Service: 

    13 14 50 (within Australia)
    +61 3 9268 8332 (outside Australia)

    Australian Eastern Time Monday to Friday 8:00 am to 6:00 pm

    This article is partly taken from Australian ’s Foreign Investment Policy 2019 and Administration of Australia ’s Foreign Investment Framework Report 2017-18.

02.10.2019

Disclaimer

Due to frequent changes in the system, it is emphasized that you should not rely on this article alone to make decisions, especially the application fees are subject to change in the financial year. For specific prices, applicants should pay close attention to the FIRB official website.
This article is for general information only and does not apply to readers ’cases. Readers should not rely on the information in this article to make any legal decisions without consulting any Australian Legal Practitioner. Fumens Lawyers hereby clarified that the readers who refer to this article do not constitute a client relationship, so Fumens Lawyers is not responsible for any loss caused by reliance on this article.