AUSTRALIA: New rules on acquisition of agricultural land, effective 1 March 2015

Wednesday February 11 2015

The Government has announced enhanced scrutiny and reporting of foreign purchases of agricultural land in Australia.

The current threshold for screening of purchases is $252m. To improve the scrutiny of foreign purchases of agricultural land the Government will reduce the screening threshold to $15 million from 1 March 2015.

The new $15 million screening threshold will apply to the cumulative value of agricultural land owned by the foreign investor, including the proposed purchase.

The Government will also establish a foreign ownership register of agricultural land.

From 1 July 2015 the Australian Tax Office (ATO) will start collecting information on all new foreign investment in agricultural land regardless of value. The ATO will also commence a stocktake of existing agricultural land ownership by foreign interests.

The Government is currently considering the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee inquiry regarding foreign investment in residential real estate.

The Government will announce details of the reforms to foreign investment in residential real estate in coming weeks.

Click on the above link for more details.