Foreign Investors the Losers for NSW Stamp Duty Rates

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Foreign Investors the Losers for NSW Stamp Duty Rates

New South Wales follows suit with Victoria in tax hikes for foreign home buyers. The New South Wales government announced on 1 June 2017 that it will double its foreign investor stamp duty surcharge to 8% and also raise its annual land tax surcharge for foreign homeowners from the existing 0.7% to 2%.

Stamp duty concessions for investors purchasing off the plan will also be removed.

This follows similar type changes in Victoria recently.

In addition, the announcement also foreshadows additional incentives for first home buyers by:

  • Abolishing all stamp duty for first home buyers on existing and new homes up to $650,000 and stamp duty discounts up to $800,000. These changes, to be introduced on July 1 2017, will provide savings of up to $24,740 for first home buyers
  • Abolishing the stamp duty charged on lenders’ mortgage insurance, which is often required by banks to lend to first homebuyers with limited deposits, providing a saving of around $2,900 on an $800,000 property.

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