Hello from the other side...

Hi all,
It’s been a long time since I last posted here. We’ve been concentrating on family, and career, and moved overseas, etc. Some major changes in life.

Now we’re trying to buy another property and I got a few big questions.
Now we’re non-resident for tax purposes. If we were to buy a house in or near Brisbane, is it better to do it as non-resi or under a company structure?
Intension is to buy, subdivide, and sell one and keep one.

I see lots of anti non-resi measures nowadays which is fair and fine, but how do we mitigate around those things. Slightly different ball game I guess.

Thanks in advance.

 

From a finance perspective it doesn't matter in that even if you are a director of a company you would be deemed as a non resident unless your income is within Australia.

Unfortunately non resident lending hasn't eased up greatly and a lot excellent expat clients have been caught up in the cross fire.

 

Thanks @Shahin_Afarin , are you saying there’s no lending option for non-resi at the moment?
I understand the different income means testing method for non-resi. But we can put down 20-30% deposit for a house in Brissie, hence the query.

 

No there are plenty of options - the issue is mainly servicing since lenders shade the income anywhere from 10%-30% depending on the lender and then there is the inability to use negative gearing for servicing.

These 2 really hurt investors on top of the all the changes in the past 2 years that have affected all of the population.

My response was more towards the structure in that from a servicing perspective it doesn't make a huge difference whether its in an individual name or company.

If its in a company name then this may help your servicing in the future provided the company is self sustaining and able to meet its obligations.

 

Non-resident for tax purposes.
Can I be the director then? At this stage, we’re trying to figure out which vehicle (own name or company name) would be better for the purchase and subdivide. We will return to Aus one day but not as yet. Still another 5-6 more years overseas.

 

Corporations law requires at least one resident director of a company. And lenders will require personal guarantees from each director so this will make it hard to get a friend or family member to help out.

Also consider the land tax issues.

 

@Sick_of_scams will tell you his nightmare story about non residency and land tax in QLD. Caveat emptor.

 

thanks for all the pointers. wow QLD land tax and absentee surcharge is a nightmare. Along with non-resi fees and taxes.
I think we will go ahead with the company structure so I’ll explore more.
Is lending to companies 60% LVR nowadays? or less?

 

You could go higher. But do you have a resident director?

 

Yes, family members who are willing to work with us together in the next project. They’re builders so we will pool resources together. I will study company structure and opportunities.