Who pays Capital Gains Tax? Residents or on Residents ??

guestt · Post by **guestt** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:26 am

We are about to sell our property and use the funds to purchase another. We have heard through the old jungle drums that if you are not a resident you have to pay CGT. Can anyone confirm this, and if so, let me know how long it takes to get the paperwork through to become a resident ?

Thanks guys in advance.

kteee · Post by **kteee** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:09 am

Yes you do have to pay CGT on the difference between the purchase and sales price less buying and selling costs and also maintenance costs on the property.

It takes at least a couple of months to get residency depending on how you do it - but there are more implications, and you really need advice from your lawyer to see if it's the right thing for your circumstances.

steve · Post by **steve** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:34 pm

If you are a resident you can roll over the capital gain into the purchase of another property or properties and thus pay no CGT. I believe that you have a period of up to 2 years to do this.

I am not sure whether there is any specific time that youy have to have owned the property as a resident but your lawyer can tell you. Also as a resident you may be able to claim exemption from property rates on the new property for a number of years (depending on the value of the property).