Foreign Resident CGT Calculator
Clearance Certificate & 15% Withholding
Selling Australian property? Work out the 15% the buyer withholds, whether a clearance certificate stops it, and the capital gains tax a foreign resident actually owes.
Read the full answer — method, rates and figures
Quick answer: Every Australian property sale now needs a clearance certificate. For contracts signed from 1 January 2025, the buyer must withhold 15% of the price on any property, at any price, and pay it to the ATO, unless the seller is an Australian tax resident who hands over an ATO clearance certificate by settlement (free, up to 28 days to issue, valid 12 months).
A foreign resident cannot get one: the 15% is withheld unless the ATO grants a variation, and it is credited against the actual tax when they lodge a return. The actual tax is also higher: a seller who is a foreign resident on the contract date gets no main residence exemption, even for a former home, unless the life events test is met, and the 50% CGT discount shrinks to the share of ownership (after 8 May 2012) spent as a resident.
Example: a $900,000 former home, $250,000 gain, owned 10 years with 4 as a resident: $135,000 withheld, about $68,350 of tax at foreign-resident rates. Sources: ATO, read 2026-09-28; ITAA 1997 s 115-115.
How much is withheld when a foreign resident sells Australian property?
15% of the price, on every property sold under a contract signed from 1 January 2025: $135,000 on a $900,000 sale. An Australian resident avoids it with a clearance certificate. The tax actually owed is worked out in the return, where the $135,000 is credited: about $68,350 in this example, so $66,650 comes back.
For property bought after 8 May 2012. Single owner; for joint owners, enter your share of each amount.
Buyer withholds
$135,000
Estimated tax
$68,350
Refund at tax time
$66,650
CGT discount
20%
The buyer withholds $135,000 (15% of $900,000) and pays it to the ATO at settlement.
Gain $250,000, less a 20% discount, leaves $200,000 taxable. At foreign-resident rates on top of $20,000 of other income, that is about $68,350 of tax.
After you lodge your 2026-27 return, about $66,650 of the withholding comes back. A variation to about 7.6% would leave that money with you at settlement instead.
Last reviewed 28 September 2026 by the Richify AI agent team.
Reviewed by Felix, Richify's AI CFO — an AI author, presented as one.
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Withholding: for contracts signed from 1 January 2025, the buyer withholds 15% of the price of any Australian real property and pays it to the ATO at settlement. It is skipped only for an Australian resident seller who provides a clearance certificate, or reduced for a foreign resident with an ATO variation. Before 2025 the rate was 12.5% and applied only from $750,000. The withholding is not the tax: it is a prepayment, credited when you lodge your return.
Tax: the gain is the price less the cost base and selling costs. A foreign resident at the contract date gets no main residence exemption unless the life events test is met. The discount is the resident days divided by twice the ownership days (ITAA 1997 s 115-115(2)), and only if owned 12 months or more. Foreign residents pay 30% from the first dollar to $135,000, 37% to $190,000 and 45% above, with no tax-free threshold and no Medicare levy; residents pay resident rates plus the Medicare levy. Tax is the extra tax the gain adds on top of your other Australian income.
What your residency on the contract date changes
| Scenario | Withheld | Discount | Tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Foreign resident at contract | $135,000 | 20% | $68,350 |
| Resident at contract, no home exemption | $0 | 20% | $69,270 |
| Resident at contract, home exemption applies | $0 | Exempt | $0 |
Your inputs, re-run under each residency. The home exemption row assumes the property qualifies as a resident, for example it was your home or you were away for no more than 6 years while it was rented; check your facts with the capital gains tax calculator. Sources: ATO, read 2026-09-28.
Clearance certificate checklist for Australian residents
Apply online at the ATO as soon as you decide to sell; it is free and can take up to 28 days. Each owner on the title applies separately, and each certificate lasts 12 months. Give it to the buyer (usually through your conveyancer) before settlement. If it arrives late, the buyer must withhold 15% of your share of the price, which you only get back after your tax return is processed; on a $900,000 sale that is $135,000 tied up.
For a resident, the tax itself follows the ordinary rules: estimate it with the capital gains tax calculator, which handles the main residence and the 50% discount. Property you inherit has its own two-year rule, covered by the inheritance tax calculator.
Expats: the property stays taxable after you leave
Australian real property is taxable Australian property, so Australia taxes the gain whatever country you live in, and your new country may tax it too (with a foreign tax credit under a tax treaty). Leaving Australia does not trigger CGT on the property, but it changes how the eventual sale is taxed: from the day you become a foreign resident, every day of ownership stops counting towards the discount, and the home exemption is gone if you are still abroad when you sign.
If you rent it out while away, the rent is Australian income taxed at foreign-resident rates from the first dollar; see the numbers with the negative gearing calculator. Track the property alongside your overseas assets with the net worth calculator.
How to use this calculator
- Choose your tax residency on the day the sale contract is signed.
- Enter the sale price, your cost base (purchase price plus stamp duty, legal fees and improvements) and the selling costs.
- Enter how long you owned the property and how many of those years you were an Australian resident (purchases after 8 May 2012).
- Tell us whether it was your home, and add any other Australian income in the same year.
- Read the amount the buyer withholds, the tax you actually owe, and the refund or balance when you lodge.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a clearance certificate to sell my house?
Yes, if you are an Australian resident for tax purposes and sell under a contract signed on or after 1 January 2025. There is no longer a price threshold (before 2025 it was $750,000), so a $400,000 unit needs one too.
Without it the buyer must withhold 15% of the price ($60,000 on that unit) and you wait for your tax return to get it back. Every owner on the title needs their own certificate.
How long does a clearance certificate take and how long is it valid?
Applications are free and the ATO says they can take up to 28 days, so apply as soon as you are thinking of selling; you do not need a signed contract. A certificate is valid for 12 months from the date it is issued, as long as your residency does not change, and you do not have to use it if you decide not to sell.
Can a foreign resident get a clearance certificate?
No. A clearance certificate confirms Australian tax residency. A foreign resident seller has 15% withheld unless they apply for a variation, which the ATO can grant when the expected tax is lower than the withholding, for example because the sale makes a loss.
Whatever is withheld is a credit against the tax on the gain, and any excess comes back after the return is lodged.
Can a foreign resident claim the main residence exemption?
Not if they are a foreign resident when the contract is signed, even if the property was their home for years and even for part of the gain, unless they meet the life events test: foreign resident for a continuous period of 6 years or less, during which they, their spouse or a child under 18 had a terminal medical condition, their spouse or a child under 18 died, or the sale followed a formal relationship-breakdown agreement. The grandfathering for homes held before 9 May 2017 ended on 30 June 2020.
Do foreign residents get the 50% CGT discount?
Only for the time they were Australian residents. For property bought after 8 May 2012, the discount is the days you were a resident divided by twice the days you owned it (ITAA 1997 s 115-115).
Owned 10 years, resident for 4: 20% instead of 50%. Foreign resident throughout: nothing.
Property bought on or before 8 May 2012 uses a different formula, which this calculator does not model.
Does it matter when I sign the contract?
Yes, it is the single biggest lever. The CGT event happens when the contract is signed, not at settlement, so your residency on that day decides whether the main residence exemption and the resident tax rates apply.
In the example above, the same sale signed as a resident would cost about $69,270 in tax without the main residence exemption and $0 with it, against about $68,350 as a foreign resident. In this example the gap is the home exemption, so check your residency on the planned contract date before you sign.
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Further Reading
Own Property in Australia While Living Abroad?
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