Australia Property

[greengiraffe]

Foreign investors illegally buying Australian properties to face new penalties of jail terms, fines

[Under the changes, foreign buyers who breach the rules will face three years in jail and fines of $127,500 for individuals and $637,500 for companies.]

[But Treasurer Joe Hockey said investors can avoid prosecution if they come forward by November 30.

"I say to foreign investors, you have until the end of the year to declare yourselves," he said.

"If you do not come to us, we will come to you because eventually we will find those people that have engaged in unlawful acquisition of Australian real estate and we will prosecute you and we will be very hard about it."]

[Mr Hockey said since issuing a "divestment order" on a Sydney property that had been illegally purchased, a number of other buyers had come forward.

"We are investigating a further 100 cases at the moment. For example, one case in WA involving a property of around $800,000, the foreign investor has come forward, self-identified," he said. "They will be forced to sell their properties but they will not be subject to criminal prosecution by the Commonwealth Government but they will need to sell their properties."

The Treasurer said the foreign investment rules would now be enforced by the Australian Tax Office rather than the Foreign Investment Review Board because the ATO had access to state and federal data, including immigration records.

The Government has also confirmed it will push ahead with plans to impose a $5,000 fee on all foreign investment applications for residential properties valued up to $1 million. ]

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Looks like the witch hunt is about to begin.

No worries mate... angmo is well known for hotair...