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The expanded register includes a renovated online services system for foreign investors and their authorised representatives.
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ATO confirms update to foreign ownership register
21 April 2023
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The ATO’s Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets will commence in June and expands the list of assets that need to be registered.
The October 2020 budget provided the ATO with $24.3 million over four years to build and maintain the new register and the move involved repealing the Register of Foreign Ownership of Water of Agricultural Land Act 2015.
The updated register aimed to amalgamate and expand existing registers administered by the ATO and provide a streamlined experience for foreign investors to manage their affairs.
The revised register would hold details about the foreign ownership of assets such as residential land, commercial land, agricultural land, business and entity-related interests, and mining, production and exploration tenements.
The Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets functions included:
- Replace existing foreign investment registers it managed (relating to agricultural and residential land, and water interests).
- Expand on assets to be registered.
- Provide a streamlined experience for foreign investors to manage their investment affairs.
- Support compliance with Australia’s foreign investment framework.
- Increase the government’s visibility of foreign investments made in Australia.
The ATO also confirmed the Commissioner of Taxation would be responsible for the register after he was appointed by the assistant treasurer late last year.
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His role would be to administer the Register of Foreign Ownership of Australian Assets and maintain accurate records of interests and changes that need to be registered as well as provide accurate reporting to the government on foreign ownership in Australia.
As part of the commencement of the new register, the ATO said it would launch an updated online service for foreign investors on 26 June.
The change meant the forms that foreign investors used on the website would be removed from 17 June, with the Tax Office warning those with obligations such as a vacancy fee return due between 17 June and 25 June to lodge it before that date.
To use and access the updated service the ATO said foreign investors and their representatives would need a myGovID with the investor required to register themselves before they could authorise a representative to act on their behalf.
The Tax Office said the online service would be used by foreign investors and their representatives to:
- Lodge foreign investment applications for residential land and pay associated fees
- Manage personal foreign investment details
- Manage residential and non-residential asset registrations
- View the history of residential and non-residential assets
- Lodge vacancy fee returns and pay associated fees
- Monitor residential foreign investment application status
- Review asset registrations
- Review vacancy return lodgments
- Review payment history
- Delegate authority to representatives to act on their behalf as an individual or for an entity without an ABN
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