Federal Government and Australian Taxation Office

Chris Jordan: Treasurer Joe Hockey held a joint press conference with the Tax Commissioner, Chris Jordan, to provide an update on the Government foreign real estate investor crackdown and its new legislation to restrict corporate tax minimisation, according to Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The properties now under investigation have a total value of more than $1 billion, according to Mr Hockey, who said he has already signed several further divestment orders for properties ranging in value from $265,000 to $8.1 million. Map: Australia The Australian Taxation Office is investigating over 500 property purchases by foreign buyers, including multi-million-dollar homes purchased by students with no income, while the Federal Government has also introduced legislation to limit tax avoidance by multinational firms. The latest properties that will be sold under the crackdown are located in Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia, and are owned by people from Singapore, Indonesia, the UK and China. Earlier this year the Federal Government announced greater enforcement of existing rules that limit the type of property that non-residents can buy, as well as introducing tougher penalties for breaches. The owners have twelve months to complete the sales. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.