I purchased 2 bed townhouse as my PPOR in Dec 2010 for $320K in Toongabbie NSW. Lived their till Feb 2015 and then moved to overseas with a new job. I came back to Australia in Nov 2016 and was renting out in a different suburb till Dec 2018. I brought new place and move in Dec 2018. Old PPOR (Toongabbie) is rented out since April 2015 (more than 4 years now).Current estimated market price is $570K. I want to sell it and invest money in offset account of new PPOR. .I have consulted few tax agents but getting conflicting advise regarding CGT liability.My question - Will I have CGT Liability if I sell old PPOR? Cheers, Manish
You will need to pay CGT on any growth after you moved into the new place (Dec 18). You can still claim the the CGT free period for up to 6 years after moving out provided you don't claim another house as your home. I don't believe been overseas for a period has any effect on the CGT free rule although I have never needed to look it up to confirm.
As you are back from overseas it seems you are ok to claim the CGT for the entire period prior to the new residence been acquired. Treating a dwelling as your main residence after you move out
Thanks for the link. I found one very relevant example. " James bought a house in Brisbane on 15 September 2010 and moved in immediately. On 10 October 2012 he moved to Perth and rented out his Brisbane house. On 3 October 2017 James bought and moved into a new house in Perth. He sold the house in Brisbane on 1 March 2019. In completing his 2018–19 tax return, James decided to treat the Brisbane house as his main residence for the period after he moved out of it but only until the date he purchased his new main residence in Perth – that is, for the period of slightly less than five years from 10 October 2012 until 3 October 2017." So looks like that I have to pay CGT for Dec 2018 onward. Luckily prices have not moved upwards since that time. So now, the question is - who decides market rate of my property in Dec 2018?
i am no tax expert but i would go for TOTAL buying costs ( cash, commississions stamp dutuy , lawyer's fees and mortgage costs , if any etc. etc ) v. the total cash left after selling ( minus commissions , advertising , expenses in tidying up the property for sale , etc ) if the property prices went 'nowhere ' maybe you have crystallized a loss , but you would have to get your accountant to ascertain that to ATO's content , buying as a residence intially and THEN renting it out later adds some extra complications ( did you have a 'home office ' there when you resided there )
I plan to live at least 10 years in the new property, so i expect it to appreciate more than Toongabbie house. Now if i sell in Oct 2019 and dont extend the main residence absence provision to Toongabbie property - will I pay CGT from for price increase since May 2015 (when i move out of the property for overseas) OR will I pay CGT from for price increase from Dec 2018 (when i purchased new PPOR) ? My assumption is that I will not pay any CGT for the new property when i sell it in 2029. Cheers, MKB
are you talking about toongabie? You have a choice. a) cost base reset at first used to produce income, or b) use the 6 year rule
I plan to stay in new PPOR (which purchased in Dec 2018) for a long time (potentially 10 years) - so $ gain is likely to be much more. So it may not make sense to pay CGT on it. If I pay CGT on old PPOR - the cost base of CGT will be when i used it to generate income i.e May 2015 or when i brought the new PPOR i.e Dec 2018. Between May 2015 and Dec 2018 - I was renting in US and Australia. Thanks for your help
The formula in s118-185 would be used on the new main residence s118-192 would be used on the old if not using the 6 year rule. I suggest you get some tax advice.